


The Tale of the Warden

by summerrain24601



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2018-05-20 14:24:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 73
Words: 169,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6011038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerrain24601/pseuds/summerrain24601
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You want the true story of the Hero of Ferelden? I can only tell you what I heard, I wasn't there. You won't find anyone who knows the whole story, unless you ask her yourself. You'll get bits and pieces from the people who traveled with her, but not even the King himself knows the full truth about what really happened. Don't care, huh? Well, alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. We'll have to start at the very beginning, but that's the part that's the most vague. Only one person alive knows that happened that night in Highever Castle, and she's not exactly willing to talk about it. Her brother? He wasn't there for that part. Come to think of it, Fergus wasn't around for much of this story. But, enough talk. You want to know what happened? Let's start at the beginning. The day everything blew up in her face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Duncan and Howe

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my fanfic based on the human noble origin. I'm only planning on posting one chapter per week, and this is going to go through the other DLC too. Most of the chapters will go by the game, but I'll toss some in here and there that aren't. Things that happen off-screen, for example. 
> 
> Also, guys, sorry about kinda stalling my Tevinter Seeker story. I got busy with school, and the story just isn't coming to me anymore. I'll add new chapters to that one as they come, but don't hold your breath. Sorry again.

_"And so is the Golden City blackened_  
_with each step you take in my hall._  
_Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting._  
_You have brought Sin to Heaven,_  
_and Doom upon all the World."_

It was a rather unusual day in Highever Castle. Arl Howe's men still hadn't gotten there, so he said. Arl Howe and Teyrn Cousland were supposed to march their men to Ostagar together. 

"I'll send my eldest off with my men," the Teyrn said to the Arl. "You and I will ride off together, just like the old days."

"True," said Arl Howe, in his rather nasally voice. "Though we both had less gray in our hair then, and we fought Orlesians, not… Monsters." 

The monsters he spoke of were the Darkspawn that massed in the southern part of Ferelden. The Grey Wardens apparently believed it to be the beginning of a Blight, but the King's letter had sounded as if he did not believe them. 

"At least the smell will be the same," Teyrn Bryce Cousland laughed as a girl in leather armor came into the hall. 

"You called for me, Father?" Elyssa Cousland asked politely. 

"I'm sorry pup, I didn't see you there," her father responded. "Howe, you remember my daughter?"

"I see she's become a lovely young woman," Howe responded, meeting Elyssa's gaze. "Pleased to see you again, my dear."

"And you, Arl Howe," Elyssa responded politely. She was the daughter of a nobleman, after all. Manners were key. Even if she didn't quite care for this man.

"My son Thomas asked after you," Howe informed her. "Perhaps I should bring him with me next time."

There was a flicker of hesitation in Elyssa's eyes, and this did not go unnoticed by the Arl. "Thomas is… a few years younger than I am," she reminded him, settling for a more subtle approach to the rejection of marriage. Of course this was just Howe trying to get his son married into a higher noble family. 

"As you get older, those years make less difference," the Arl said with a laugh. "A lesson often hard won." Elyssa was about to say something more direct to turn down the Arl's subtle marriage offer, when her father spoke instead.

"I doubt she'll be receptive, Howe," Bryce interrupted. "My fierce girl has her own mind these days, Maker bless her heart." Elyssa gave her father an appreciative glance at that. She really didn't want to get married, not to a man she didn't care much for.

"No doubt because you've trained her as a warrior," Howe said, a hint of sarcasm lacing his already hard-to-bear voice. "How unique." Elyssa narrowed her eyes. There was nothing wrong with learning to fight! She would use all her skills in defense of Highever, to protect her family and her people! She was about to say as much when, once again, her father began to speak.

"At any rate, pup, I summoned you for a reason," he said quickly. "While your brother and I are both away, I'm leaving you in charge of the castle." Elyssa's eyes widened. Why was she being left in charge, and not Mother?

"Are you certain?" she asked, surprised. "What's involved with such a task?"

"Only a token force is remaining here, and you must keep peace in the region," Bryce explained. "You know what they say about mice when the cat's away, yes?" Elyssa nodded. "There is also someone you must meet. Please, show Duncan in," he said to one of the guards. Who was this Duncan person? The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember why. 

There he came, a dark-skinned man with near-black eyes and black hair, in odd armor with a sword and dagger on his back. He didn't look Ferelden at all. His skin wouldn't have been out of place in the Tevinter Imperium, to the north. Elyssa's suspicions only grew stronger when the man spoke. 

"It is an honor to be a guest in your hall, Teyrn Cousland," Duncan said to Bryce. 

"Your lordship, you didn't mention that a Grey Warden would be present," Howe said quickly. Elyssa thought he sounded almost panicked, which concerned her. 

"Duncan arrived just recently, unannounced," Bryce responded. Seemed that he caught the note of panic in Rendon Howe's voice as well. "Is there a problem?"

"Of course not," Howe responded quickly. "But a guest of this stature demands certain protocol. I am… at a disadvantage."

_What a load of horse dung,_ Elyssa found herself thinking. Howe was a snake and that was all there was to it. He was trying to change his place in the world by getting close to the other Teyrn in Ferelden, Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir of Gwaren. Loghain had been only recently elevated to nobility because of his actions in the Battle of River Dane, against the Orlesians. Howe hadn't been satisfied with the arling of Amaranthine, and was after more. It was an old struggle between Highever and Amaranthine, spanning back to the thirty-year war that ended with Highever victorious with half of the lands Amaranthine had held.

"We rarely have the pleasure of seeing one in person, that's true," Bryce continued, seeming to have bought Howe's quick excuses. "Pup, Brother Aldous taught you who the Grey Wardens are, I hope?"

"Yes, Father," Elyssa responded dutifully. "He said that they are an order of great warriors."

"They are the heroes of legend, who ended the Blights and saved us all," Bryce elaborated for her. "Duncan is looking for recruits before joining us and his fellow Wardens in the south. I believe he's got his eye on Ser Gilmore."

"If I might be so bold, I would suggest that your daughter is also an excellent candidate," Duncan said carefully. Elyssa allowed only a small grin on her face at his words. The fact that Duncan had recognized her prowess as a warrior already told her a lot about him. And she liked him already. 

"Honor though that might be, this is my daughter we're talking about," Bryce said, stepping between the two of them. But Father's words reminded Elyssa of another of Brother Aldous's lessons, of how the Wardens were a small order who had been banished from Ferelden for two hundred years. The late King Maric had only recently allowed the Wardens back into Ferelden, not even thirty years ago. And the Grey Wardens had to give up all rights to land and titles. 

"I've no interest in becoming a Grey Warden," Elyssa said after a moment, though she averted her eyes from Duncan's. This told him that she had some interest at least, and that perhaps she was saying that to go with her father's wishes.

"Do you hear that Duncan?" Bryce asked, almost challenging the Warden. "My daughter is not interested. So, unless you intend to invoke the Right of Conscription…?" There was a glint in his eyes, as if daring Duncan to use whatever it was he'd just said.

"Have no fear," Duncan said calmly. "While we need as many good recruits as we can find, I've no intention of forcing the issue." Elyssa had to respect him for keeping so calm. Not many could do the same when faced with the simmering anger of Teyrn Bryce Cousland. 

Bryce seemed to accept that, and he moved back to where he'd been standing before. "Pup, can you ensure that Duncan's requests are seen to while I'm gone?"

"Of course," Elyssa said with a nod. 

"In the meantime, find Fergus and tell him to lead the troops to Ostagar ahead of me," Bryce continued. 

"Where is Fergus?" 

"Upstairs in his chambers, no doubt, spending some last moments with his wife and my grandson." Fergus was Elyssa's older brother, and the Heir Apparent to the title Teyrn of Highever. His wife was Antivan, and their son was not even ten years old as of yet. "Be a good lass and do as I've asked. We'll talk soon." Elyssa nodded and walked out of the hall.


	2. That Bloody Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did she know she'd just met the man who would turn her life on its head? Nope. Didn't know Duncan was going to save her, either. But I forgot about someone. Her loyal mabari. Huh? You didn't know that the Hero of Ferelden had a mabari? Of course she did! And that hound of hers was there through everything. But, well, you can't get a story from him, all he does is bark. But, let me continue.

As Elyssa left the hall and walked around the courtyard, she was stopped by a familiar face.

"There you are!" the man said. It was Ser Gilmore, the man that Duncan was hoping to recruit. "Your mother told me the teyrn had summoned you, so I didn't want to interrupt." Ser Gilmore was the son of a lesser noble, part of the guard around Highever Castle.

"Good thing too, considering Father's company," Elyssa said off-handedly. 

"Yes, I saw the Arl arrive," he responded. "I fear your hound has the kitchens in uproar again. Nan is threatening to leave."

"Did my dog get into the larder _again_?" Elyssa groaned. 

Ser Gilmore laughed softly. "No matter how the maids try to keep him out, he always finds a way in," he said good-naturedly. The two of them had always been on good terms, though not quite friends. "You know these mabari hounds. He'll listen to his mistress, but anyone else risks having an arm bitten off."

"Then I guess I should go collect him," Elyssa said with a laugh.

"That would be wise, before Nan tears down the walls," Ser Gilmore agreed. "You're quite lucky to have your own mabari war hound, you know. Smart enough not to talk, my father used to say. Of course, that means he's easily bored. Nan swears he confounds her just to amuse himself. At any rate, your mother would have me accompany you until the matter is settled. Shall we?"

"To the kitchen then," Elyssa agreed.

"Just follow the yelling," Ser Gilmore informed her, the grin on his face taking the bite out of his words. "When nan's unhappy, she makes sure everyone knows it."

The two of them walked around the courtyard to the kitchens. Elyssa enjoyed the castle when it was busy, it was too lonely inside when there wasn't anything going on. So much space, but so few people inside it. Highever Castle would be so empty once the soldiers began the march to Ostagar…

Entering the kitchens, they saw Nan with two of the elven servants. The larder door was closed, but Elyssa figured that was because nobody else could really tell her dog what to do without risking, as Ser Gilmore had said, getting something bitten off. 

"Get that bloody mutt out of the larder!" Nan ordered the servants.

"But mistress, it won't let us near!" protested the female elf. Both her and the boy kept glancing fearfully at the closed larder door.

"If I can't get into that larder, I'll skin both you useless elves, I swear it!" Elyssa knew she wouldn't, Nan was angry when mad but she wouldn't hurt anyone. On purpose, at least.

"Err… Calm down good woman, we're here to help…" Ser Gilmore spoke up, hesitantly. Nan had been Elyssa's nanny before she'd been the cook, so Elyssa had no true fear of the woman. But other people in the castle didn't know her so well, and tended to be afraid of her. 

"You! And YOU! Your bloody mongrel keeps getting into my larder!" Nan glared at Elyssa. "That beast should be put down!"

"I'm sorry he's bothering you Nan," Elyssa said, giving the woman an apologetic smile.

"Just get him gone!" Nan demanded. "I've enough to worry about with a castle full of hungry soldiers!" She turned to the elves. "You two! Stop standing there like idiots! Get out of the way!" They walked over to the other side of the kitchen, and Elyssa gave Nan another apologetic smile.

"I'll take care of him," she assured the woman before opening the larder door. There stood her hound, sniffing around for something, then barking at… The grain sacks?

"Oh, look at that mess," Ser Gilmore sighed. "How did he even get in here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Elyssa said with a shrug. "He's too smart for his own good. But I'd still rather have Kenai than some pampered lapdog." Kenai started barking again, then looked over at the sacks of grain. Elyssa tilted her head, realization flashing in her bright blue eyes. "Are you trying to tell me something?" she asked the hound. He barked and jumped around, bumping into and knocking over a barrel of potatoes. 

"He does seem like he's trying to tell you something," Ser Gilmore agreed. "Wait, do you hear that?" Rats. Large black rats began emerging from all over the larder. 

"Ug, gross," Elyssa said with a sigh as she readied her blade. "This is NOT what I meant when I said I wanted combat practice…" 

"This is like a bad adventure story," Ser Gilmore muttered, earning a giggle from Elyssa. 

"Like those ones your uncle likes to tell?" she asked, grinning.

"My grandfather, but my point still stands," he responded with a laugh. "Let's take care of these pests."

The rats were dead in a matter of minutes. "Your hound must have chased them in through their holes," Ser Gilmore deduced. "Looks like he wasn't raiding the larder after all."

"So my hound put me in danger. Great," Elyssa said, her voice laced with heavy sarcasm, the grin she still sported taking the bite out of her words.

"He's certainly done the castle a favor by rooting them out," Ser Gilmore insisted. "But, seeing as you've got your mabari well in hand, I'll be on my way. I'm to prepare for the arrival of more of the arl's men." 

"Thank you for your help, Ser Gilmore," Elyssa said to him. He gave her a small bow before leaving. Elyssa led Kenai out of the larder, and was met by Nan just outside.

"There he is, as brazen as you please, licking his chops after helping himself to the roast no doubt," Nan said scornfully to the hound. 

"Actually, he was defending your larder from rats," Elyssa said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Big ones." She didn't care too much that she'd scared the elven servants, she was just a bit tired of Nan giving her dog so much grief.

"What? Rats?! Not the large grey ones!" the girl elf cried out.

"They'll rip you to shreds they will!" the boy protested. 

"See, now you've gone and scared the servants!" Nan scolded Elyssa, who raised an eyebrow. "I expect those filthy things are dead."

"I took care of it," Elyssa assured them, more for the sake of the servants than anything else. "You don't have to be afraid."

"I bet that dog led those rats in there to begin with," Nan groaned. Kenai let out a whine. "Oh, don't even start with the sad eyes," Nan said to him, though she didn't seem as mad anymore. "I'm immune to your so-called charms." Kenai whined again. Nan sighed softly, shaking her head. "Here, then. Take these pork bits and don't say Nan never gives you anything! Bloody dog," she added, giving Kenai some leftover pork scraps. "Thank you my lady. Now we can get back to work." She turned to the elves. "That's right you two, quit standing about!" Elyssa took that moment to carefully escape the kitchen, faithful hound in tow.


	3. Sweet Dairren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, Lady Elyssa wasn't exactly what one would call cunning in the sense that a bard is, but she tended to be a good strategist. She's one of the people that play board games and think multiple steps ahead. So she knew something was wrong right off. It's almost too bad she didn't act on her suspicions right then. Might have saved her a lot of grief later on. Of course, if she hadn't become a Warden, all of Ferelden might have fallen to the Blight. Anyway, sit back and listen while I tell this next part.

Elyssa's next task was to find her brother. And so it was off to the upper levels of the castle. On the way, she saw her mother with a few guests.

"And my dear Bryce brought this back from Orlais last year," Eleanor was saying. "The marquis who gave it to him was drunk, I understand, and mistook Bryce for the king." Elyssa stopped next to her mother. "Ah, here is my lovely daughter. I take it by the presence of that troublesome hound of yours that the situation in the kitchen is handled?" 

"He's not that bad mother," Elyssa protested. "But yes. Nan is back to work as we speak."

"You've always had a way with her," Elyssa's mother responded with a smile. "Darling, you remember Lady Landra, Bann Loren's wife?"

"I think we last met at your mother's spring salon," Lady Landra assisted.

"Of course, it is good to see you again," Elyssa said politely. Again, manners were key for nobility. 

"You are too kind dear girl," Lady Landra continued. "Didn't I spend half the salon trying to convince you to marry my son?" she asked with a laugh.

"And made a very poor case for it, I might add," her son said quietly. 

"You remember my son, Dairren? He's not married yet, either," Lady Landra elaborated. Elyssa had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She liked Dairren well enough, but she did not desire him as her husband. What was with all the nobles wanting to marry off their children? Yes, Fergus had a son already, but what did that matter? Just because Fergus was married didn’t mean she had to be.

"Don't listen to her," Dairren said with a sigh. "It's good to see you again, my lady. You're looking as beautiful as ever." Well, Dairren had a way with words at least. Maybe she wouldn't mind being wed to him after all. And he was pretty handsome… 

"Thank you," she said simply. It would not do to say something too forward in front of Mother.

"And this is my lady-in-waiting, Iona," Lady Landra continued once more, motioning to the elf next to her. "Do say something dear."

"It is a great pleasure, my lady," Iona began. "You are as pretty as your mother describes."

"She says that after seeing you whacking stuffed men in the courtyard, sweating like a mule," Mother responded with a soft sigh. 

"You daughter's prowess with the blade is most impressive," Dairren said helpfully.

"I was quite the battle maiden myself in my day," Mother continued. "But I think it was the softer arts that helped me land a husband."

"Perhaps we should speak alone sometime, Dairren?" Elyssa said in response to her mother's subtle nagging.

"I would like that, my lady," Dairren responded. His smile told her that his words were genuine, rather than simply expected.

"I think perhaps I shall rest now, my dear," Lady Landra said after a moment. "Dairren, I will see you and Iona at supper."

"Perhaps we'll retire to the study for now," Dairren suggested. He and Iona went back down toward the library and the study that was just off it.

"Good evening, your Ladyship," Lady Landra said before going off toward one of the guest rooms. 

"You should say goodbye to Fergus while you have the chance," Elyssa's mother said to her. 

"Did you know there's a Grey Warden here?" Elyssa asked.

"Yes, your father mentioned that," her mother sighed. "You haven't got it into your head that you want to be recruited?"

"Definitely not," Elyssa said, shaking her head. "Grey Wardens have to give up everything to become what they are. I don't think I could handle that."

"Keep it that way," her mother said, voice stern. "You've enough to do here at the castle without chasing darkspawn."

"Are you staying at the castle Mother?" 

"For a few days. Then I'll travel with Lady Landra to her estate and keep her company for a time," her mother elaborated. "Your father thinks my presence here might undermine your authority." 

_Sounds like something Father would say,_ Elyssa agreed silently. "Mother, I… I don't think you should go," she said out loud. As much as she wanted to prove herself, something in her heart was… apprehensive about the days to come. Something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't figure out what.

"Don't worry, my dear, it won't be long," her mother assured her. 

"I just… I have a bad feeling about all this," Elyssa admitted. "Something doesn't feel right, but I can't figure out what." She turned her gaze to the stones at her feet, blue eyes glinting with worry.

"As do I," her mother admitted. "Your father and brother are marching off to fight Maker knows what. All the assurances in the world don't comfort me." She gave her daughter a small smile, taking one of Elyssa's hands in her own. "But it wouldn't help for us to take up arms and follow. Fergus and your father have their duty, and we have ours."

"I know Mother," Elyssa conceded. "I worry for them, that's all." She sighed, then looked back up at her mother, meeting the sharp green gaze. "Do you know where Fergus might be?"

"If he's not out with his men, probably upstairs with Oriana." Oh, right. That was what Father had said, that Fergus would be in his chambers.

"I should go, then," Elyssa said, reluctantly. 

"I love you, my darling girl," her mother said suddenly. "You know that, don't you?"

"I love you too, Mother," she responded, pressing a gentle kiss onto her mother's cheek. 

"Go do what you must, then. I will see you soon." Elyssa nodded and walked back down. She wanted to talk to Dairren some more before going to speak to Fergus. Father would surely send them all to bed after. She was stopped by Brother Aldous, who requested her aid in teaching the Cousland history to a pair of new Squires. She was glad to help. Once the lesson was finished, she made her way into the study, which was just off the library.

"Hello again," Dairren said as she approached. "Your castle's study is wonderful. Might I ask who's collection this is?"

"It was my grandfather's, but I come here often to read," Elyssa told him.

"So would I," he agreed. "Do you have a favorite book?"

" _The Dragons of Tevinter_ by Brother Timious."

"Good choice!" Dairren said excitedly. "Timious's theory on the nature of dragons and how they connect to darkspawn is quite intriguing." Elyssa couldn't help the smile that came to her lips at his boyish enthusiasm. It was cute that he got so excited about the book. 

"I'd like to get to know you a little better," Elyssa admitted softly, making her smile turn shy. 

"I'd like that," he said. "What did you have in mind?"

"Why don't we go… Somewhere more private?" Elyssa suggested, keeping her voice low so Iona wouldn't hear. 

"Gladly," he agreed, a small grin making its way onto his face. "But your mother is expecting me for dinner shortly. As is mine. Perhaps another time?"

"Why don't you come to my room later tonight?" she suggested quietly.

"I… Suppose I could see you after everyone is asleep, for something of a more… intimate nature. If that is what you mean?" he asked, keeping his voice quiet so as not to attract any unwanted attention.

"Yes, I'd like that," Elyssa responded with a nod and a small smile. Hook, line, and sinker. 

"I look forward to it," Dairren responded. "I shall see you then." Elyssa left the study and, still smiling, went upstairs to find Fergus.


	4. Goodbye Fergus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, I've mentioned her brother, but he really wasn't in this story much at all after what I'm about to tell you. It may seem like filler, but this is important too. Remember, Fergus was sent to Ostagar with the Highever troops, without Teyrn Cousland. He left before the others fell asleep. He couldn't have known what was coming next. But, then again, neither did the rest of them.

"Is there really going to be a war papa?" Fergus's son Oren was asking as Elyssa walked into the room. "Will you bring me back a sward?"

"That's _sword_ Oren," Fergus said gently, correcting the boy's pronunciation. "And I'll get you the mightiest one I can find, I promise. I'll be back before you know it."

"I wish victory was indeed so certain," Fergus's wife Oriana spoke up. "My heart is… Disquiet."

"Don't frighten the boy, love," Fergus said. "I speak the truth." He stood again, finally noticing where Elyssa was standing in the doorway. "And here's my little sister to see me off. Now, dry your eyes, love, and wish me well."

"Just let me know when you two are finished," Elyssa said with a small smirk. As much as she enjoyed not being married, she had to admit that it was nice to see Fergus with his own family. 

Fergus laughed. "When there's a man in your life, you'll understand," he assured her.

"I prefer my freedom, thank you," Elyssa chided her brother, still grinning. 

"One day, you'll meet someone who can handle you, mark my words," Fergus said, sounding confidant. 

"Do you really think the war will be over so quickly?" she asked, changing the topic from her lack-of-suitors.

"Word from the south is that the battles have gone well," Fergus told her. "There's no evidence that this is a true Blight, just a large raid."

"Could that be true?" Oriana asked, still looking worried.

"I'll see for myself soon enough," Fergus responded. "Pray for me, love, and I'll be back within a month or two."

"You'll be missed, Brother."

"If it's any consolation, I'm sure I'll freeze in the southern rain and be completely jealous of you up here, warm and safe," Fergus said, half joking.

"I am positively thrilled that you will be so miserable, my husband," Oriana said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Elyssa couldn't help but laugh. 

"Did you know there's a Grey Warden in the castle?" she asked after a moment.

"Really?!" Oren asked excitedly. "Was he riding a griffon?"

"Shush, Oren," Oriana said gently. "Griffons only exist in stories now."

"I'd heard that," Fergus confirmed. "Did he say why he's come?"

"He says he's recruiting," Elyssa reported.

"Oh? If I were a Grey Warden, little sister, I'd have my eye on you," Fergus half-joked again. "Not that Father would ever allow it," he added quickly.

"I bring a message," Elyssa said, finally getting to the point. "Father wants you to leave tonight, without him."

"Then the arl's men are delayed. You'd think his men were all walking backwards," Fergus sighed exasperatedly. "Well, I better get underway. So many darkspawn to behead, so little time." He turned to Oriana. "Off we go then. I'll see you soon, my love."

"I would hope, dear boy, that you planned to wait for us before taking your leave?" came Bryce's voice from the doorway. Elyssa and Fergus both turned and saw their mother and father walking into the room. 

"Be well, my son," Eleanor said to Fergus. "I will pray for your safety every day you are gone."

"Fergus will be fine," Elyssa said in an attempt to reassure her mother. Though she knew Eleanor was feeling the same as she was. Neither of them liked the idea of their family marching to war with the darkspawn. 

"I keep telling you, no darkspawn will ever best me," Fergus assured Eleanor. 

"Maker sustain and preserve us all," Oriana muttered, praying softly. "Watch over our sons, husbands, and fathers, and bring them safely back to us."

"And bring us some ale and wenches while you're at it," Fergus added jokingly. "Err… For the men, of course." Elyssa and Oriana both shot identical glares at Fergus.

"Fergus, you would say this in front of your mother?" Oriana scolded.

"What's a wench?" Oren asked, speaking up before Eleanor could say anything. "Is that what you pull on to get the bucket out of the well?"

_He's so adorably innocent…_ Elyssa found herself thinking. And that thought just made the apprehension in her stomach grow. She still couldn't understand why.

"A wench is the woman that pours the ale in the tavern, Oren," Bryce explained. "Or a woman who drinks a lot of ale." This time, Elyssa did roll her eyes. Boys…

"Bryce!" Eleanor laughed, echoing Elyssa's thoughts. "Maker, it's like living with a pair of small boys. Thankfully, I have a daughter." Elyssa grinned and laughed. 

"I'll miss you too, mother dear," Fergus laughed. "You'll take care of her, sister, won't you?"

"Mother can handle herself," Elyssa reminded her brother. "Always has."

"It's true," Fergus agreed. "They should be sending her, not me. She would scold those darkspawn back into the Deep Roads." Elyssa laughed again. 

"Well, I'm glad you find this so funny," Eleanor said sternly, giving both her children a hard look.

"Sorry Mother," Elyssa said, still grinning. 

"Enough, enough," Bryce said, also laughing. "Pup, you'll want to get an early night. You've much to do tomorrow," he suggested. Elyssa nodded.

"Of course Father," she said, then walked across the hall to her own room. "Come, Kenai, let's get to bed." He barked once.


	5. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People have a tendency to stop trusting when someone stabs them in the back. But people change when times get tough. And sometimes people aren't what they seem. I think I met an elf once who claimed that humans never say what they mean, and more often don't mean what they say.

Kenai woke them up sometime between midnight and dawn. After the others had gone to bed, Dairren had snuck up to Elyssa's room, to share her bed. They woke to Kenai's barking, and some noise in the hall. 

"I'm sorry, I've been trying to quiet him, but he won't have it," Dairren told her. "I don't know why he's so angry."

"Maybe something's wrong," Elyssa hesitantly suggested. The feeling of apprehension she'd had before returned again. 

"I thought I heard yelling when I woke up, but now I hear nothing," he admitted. Kenai kept barking frantically at the closed door, his ears were flat to his head. "Wait here, I'm going to see if there's something out in the hall." He opened the door, and then there was blood everywhere. An arrow stuck out from Dairren's chest as he fell to the floor. Elyssa stood there, shocked. Kenai, on the other hand, launched himself at the attacker. This gave Elyssa enough time to quickly don her armor and weapons, so she could fight back. 

"Darling!" came a hurried voice. It was Eleanor, as she ran over. "I heard fighting outside and I feared the worst! Are you hurt?"

"Those men killed Dairren!" Elyssa cried out, barely holding herself together.

"What? Not Landra's son! But why?" Eleanor asked. Elyssa shook her head, eyes squeezed shut, and looked down at the floor. "A scream woke me up. There were men in the hall, so I barred the door," Eleanor continued. "Did you see their shields? Those are Howe's men! Why would they attack us?!"

"He's betrayed Father!" Elyssa growled, eyes snapping open and glinting with anger. "He attacks while our troops are gone!"

"You don't think Howe's men were delayed… on purpose? That bastard!" Eleanor hissed. "I'll cut his lying throat myself!" She shook her head. "Have you seen your father? He never came to bed!"

"Maybe he stayed up with Arl Howe," Elyssa suggested, trying to stay calm. 

"We must find him!" Eleanor insisted.

"We should check on Oriana and Oren as well," Elyssa said quickly.

"Andraste's mercy!" Eleanor breathed. "What if the soldiers went into your brother's room first? Let's check on them, quickly! Then we'll look for Bryce downstairs!" Elyssa nodded, glad to have a clear objective. That helped her stay calm. She looked back at Dairren's bloody body, and her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't particularly wanted to marry Bann Loren's son, but she had cared for him. And now he was yet another victim in the stupid games played by the higher nobility. She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and sighed, then turned to go across the hall to her brother's room. 

This time, Elyssa found herself somewhat glad that Fergus had left already. Maybe he would still be alive.

Opening the door to Fergus's room, her breath caught. Oriana and Oren were both dead on the floor. 

"No! My little Oren!" Eleanor cried when she saw the bodies. "What manner of fiend slaughters innocents?!" Elyssa's vision blurred as she looked at the bodies of her sister-in-law and young nephew. She angrily wiped away the tears that fell down her cheeks.

"I will make them pay!" Elyssa declared, voice low and dark. "I'll make them all pay!"

"Howe is not even taking hostages!" Eleanor continued. "He means to kill all of us! Oh, poor Fergus!" Her voice cracked, and Elyssa felt her throat tighten in response. She blinked quickly to keep more tears from falling. "Let's go, I don't want to see this…" Elyssa nodded and headed down the stairs. 

In one of the guest rooms, they found the body of Lady Landra, Dairren's mother. "Oh, Landra… I'm so sorry…" Eleanor muttered tearfully. "If she hadn't come to me… If she hadn't been here…!" 

"Mother, we need to keep moving," Elyssa insisted softly. "We can make him pay for all of this, but only if we make it out alive!" Eleanor took a shaky breath and nodded. 

"You're right, let's go," she said after a moment. 

They were outside when Eleanor stopped Elyssa.

"Mother, we-"

"Can you hear the fighting? Howe's men must be everywhere," Eleanor interrupted. 

"Then we take the fight to them!" Elyssa snarled angrily. 

"Don't be foolish!" Eleanor snapped. "You would throw your life away!" Elyssa blinked and lowered her head. "The front gates, that's where your father must be."

"Is there nothing else we can do?" Elyssa asked, hating to run away from a fight like this. 

"I have my treasury key," Eleanor told her daughter, voice calm once more. "We could go there first and take the Cousland sword from the vault. If anything is worth fighting to keep out of Howe's hands, its that sword. But it may be a dangerous path." 

Elyssa took a breath to steady herself. She would get her revenge on Howe, but it would not happen tonight. She knew this. "Then we get to the treasury," she decided.

"If Howe's men are inside, they must already control the castle," Eleanor realized. "We must use the servants entry in the larder to escape. Do you hear me?"

Elyssa shook her head angrily. "I want Howe dead!" she hissed. 

"Then survive, and visit vengeance upon him," Eleanor told her daughter. Together, Elyssa, Eleanor, and Elyssa's hound Kenai fought their way through the castle to the treasury. Part of the wall had collapsed, forcing them to take the long way around to the main gate.

With the family sword in one hand and the Shield of Highever in the other, Elyssa led the way through the castle. A few of the surviving guards joined them as they made their way through the betrayer's troops. 

They got to the main gate, and found Ser Gilmore with a few other surviving guards doing their best to hold it. 

"Your Ladyship! My lady! You're both alive!" he said, relieved, when Howe's soldiers in the hall were dead. "I was certain Howe's men had gotten through!" 

"They _did_ get through!" Elyssa reminded him, her voice still harsh. 

"They killed Oriana, and Oren… I can't believe… Are you injured?" Eleanor asked, trying to keep herself from breaking down again. It was all Elyssa could do to keep herself together. 

"Don't worry about me, your Ladyship," Ser Gilmore insisted. "Thank the Maker you two are unharmed. When I realized what was happening, it was all I could do to shut the gates," he added, looking over at where a few soldiers were doing their best to keep the heavy oak gates closed. "But they won't keep Howe's men out long. If you've another way out of the castle, use it quickly!"

"We need to find Father!" Elyssa insisted.

"When I last saw the teyrn, he'd been badly wounded," Ser Gilmore informed them. Elyssa's eyes widened, and she saw her mother's face go pale. "I urged him not to go, but he was determined to find you. He went toward the kitchen. I believe he thought to find you at the servants' exit in the larder." 

"Bless you Ser Gilmore," Eleanor told him. "Maker watch over you!"

"Maker watch over us all," Ser Gilmore said before going to help hold the gates closed. Elyssa looked at Eleanor, the two women nodded and went through the other door, toward the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, Elyssa found herself frozen when she saw who was dead on the floor.

"Oh, Nan…" she muttered, her vision blurring again. "That bastard will pay for this, if it’s the last thing I do," she muttered before opening the larder door. There was Bryce, on the stone floor, barely alive. 

"There… you both are…" he breathed, struggling to move, holding a hand over a wound in his side. 

"Bryce!" Eleanor gasped, as mother and daughter fell to their knees by his side. 

"I was… wondering when you… would get here…"

"Maker's blood, what's happening?" Eleanor asked hurriedly. "You're bleeding!" Elyssa found herself unable to speak, knowing in her heart what was going to happen to her father, and she didn't want to accept it. 

"Howe's men… Found me first," Bryce told them. "Almost… Did me in right there." His voice was barely above a whisper, and it sounded like he was having trouble breathing. 

"I will **kill** Howe for what he's done!" Elyssa swore, no longer fighting the tears that ran down her face. 

"He can't… get away with this! The king will-" a groan cut into Bryce's words, and Elyssa found her breath catching in her throat.

"Bryce, we must get you out of here!" Eleanor insisted. 

"I… won't survive the standing… I think…" Elyssa let out a soft sob at her father's words. 

"That's not true!" Elyssa cried, her voice breaking as she spoke. "You'll be fine!" 

"Ah, my darling girl…" he muttered, slowly raising a hand to her face. "If only will could make it so…" He brushed away a tear with his thumb, and Elyssa could feel him shaking through his touch. 

"Once Howe's men break through the gates, they will find us," Eleanor said again. "We must go!"

"Someone… Must reach Fergus…" Bryce said weakly. "Tell him what has happened…" 

"And take **vengeance,** " Elyssa snarled through the tears. 

"Yes…" her father agreed. "Vengeance."

"Bryce, no!" Eleanor softly insisted. "The servants' passage is right here! We can flee together, find you healing magic!" Elyssa didn't miss when her mother's voice cracked.

"The castle is surrounded," Bryce informed them. "I cannot make it." 

"Father, no!" Elyssa cried, grasping his bloodied hand. She didn't even notice the bloody streak he'd left on her cheek; it was already being smeared away by her tears. 

"I'm afraid the teyrn is correct," said a new voice. Elyssa turned and saw Duncan walking into the larder again. "Howe's men have not yet discovered this exit, but they surround the castle. Getting past will be difficult." 

"You are… Duncan, then? The Grey Warden?" Eleanor asked. Elyssa wiped at her cheeks with one hand, remembering only now that her mother hadn't met the Grey Warden herself.

"Yes, your Ladyship," Duncan confirmed. "The teyrn and I tried to reach you sooner."

"My daughter helped me get here, Maker be praised." Elyssa's attention was once more on her father, though her expression now was more blank even as tears kept falling down her face. 

"I am not surprised," Duncan admitted. 

"Are you going to help us Duncan?" Elyssa asked, her voice much calmer now than she felt.

"Whatever is to be done now, it must be quick!" Eleanor reminded them. "They are coming!" 

"Duncan… I beg you… take my wife and daughter to safety." Bryce's voice was stronger now than it had been, but that wasn't going to last long.

"I will, your Lordship," Duncan promised. "But… I fear I must ask for something in return."

Elyssa's head snapped around, and she found herself glaring at Duncan through her tears. He wanted something, _now,_ in return for saving them?! 

"Anything!" Bryce agreed quickly.

"What is happening here pales in comparison to the evil now loose on this world," Duncan began. Elyssa knew he was talking about the darkspawn horde in the south, at Ostagar. "I came to your castle seeking a recruit. The darkspawn threat demands that I leave with one."

"I… I understand…" Bryce said with a sigh. 

"But what if something's happened to Fergus?" Elyssa asked. She knew the stories of the Wardens. If she was to join them, she would theoretically be unable to become the Teyrn that Highever would need. She wouldn't be able to take back her home.

"The king will see justice done," Duncan assured her. "The Grey Wardens, however, must face the darkspawn above all else."

"He is… right, pup," Bryce admitted softly. 

"I will take the teyrna and your daughter to Ostagar, to tell Fergus and the king what has happened," Duncan promised. "Then, your daughter joins the Grey Wardens."

"So long as justice comes to Howe… I agree."

"Then I offer you a place within the Grey Wardens," Duncan said to Elyssa. "Fight with us."

"But what if Fergus is dead?" Elyssa asked. "I can't take over as teyrn if I'm a Grey Warden…"

"We will inform the king, and he will punish Howe," Duncan assured her. "I am sorry, but a Grey Warden's duties take precedence even over vengeance."

"Howe thinks he'll use the chaos to… advance himself," Bryce told Duncan and Elyssa. "Make him wrong, pup. See that justice is done!" Elyssa nodded, wiping again at her tear-stained cheeks. "Our family… always does our duty first." Bryce continued. "The darkspawn must be defeated. You must go. For your own sake, and for Ferelden's."

Elyssa sighed softly. "I will, Father," she agreed. "For you."

"We must leave quickly then," Duncan said, standing again. 

"Bryce, are you… sure?" Eleanor asked.

"Our daughter will not die of Howe's treachery," Bryce said, determination glinting in his eyes even as he lie bleeding on the stone. "She will live, and make her mark on the world."

"Darling, go with Duncan," Eleanor told Elyssa. "You have a better chance to escape without me."

"No Mother! I won't leave you!" Elyssa insisted. 

"Eleanor…"

"Hush Bryce. I'll kill every bastard that comes through that door to buy them time. But I won't abandon you," Eleanor insisted. Elyssa couldn't stop the tears anymore. 

"I love you both… so much." she said, her voice tearful and barely above a whisper. She bent over and softly kissed her father's forehead, and then her mother's cheek. 

"Then live, darling. Become a Grey Warden and do what is right!" 

"I'm… so sorry it's come to this, my love…" Bryce said, voice weaker now as he began to succumb to his injury. 

"We had a good life and did all we could," Eleanor assured her husband, embracing him. "It's up to our children now."

"Then, go, pup," Bryce told Elyssa. "Warn your brother. And know that we love you both. You do us proud." There was a loud crashing sound, and Elyssa felt Duncan pulling on her arm.

"They've broken through the gates," Duncan said hurriedly. "We must go now." 

"Goodbye, darling," Eleanor said as Elyssa was dragged away. Elyssa looked back one last time as Duncan pulled her through the servants' exit. Then the door closed behind her, and the world around her went dark.


	6. Traveling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, after the attack, history kind of loses track of Duncan and Elyssa until they show up to Ostagar. But I got this bit from a friend who heard it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the bits I've tossed in that isn't from the game. Just some flavor chapters to add more depth to my Cousland girl. As I said in the Chapter 1 notes, I'm trying to write the summaries as Varric might say them, so if something seems odd let me know. I'm not very good at writing him yet.

They kept moving, even after getting out of Highever. There were two other Wardens waiting just outside the city, each one on a horse of his own, and with two other horses nearby. 

"We heard the fighting even from here," one of them said. "Figured it was best to have the horses ready to go."

Duncan took the reigns of one horse and got on, leaving the other for Elyssa. She had stopped crying somewhere between exiting the castle and getting here, and now her face was devoid of expression. Her eyes, which had been so bright when Duncan had first met her in the main hall, were now empty and cold. She took the offered reigns and mounted her own horse, a bay stallion. She didn't say anything to the other Wardens, didn't even bother introducing herself or asking for their names. They just followed Duncan as he spurred his horse into a canter. 

They had been riding for hours before Duncan finally allowed his horse to slow to a walk. Elyssa had kept up just fine on her horse, but it was obvious that she hadn't ridden much. The sky had started to blossom with color as they rode away from Highever, and Elyssa couldn't even bring herself to take one last look of her home as she was leaving. 

"Any word from the south?" Duncan asked the other Wardens as they kept moving, though now at a much slower pace. 

"Nothing yet," one of them answered. There was a distinct difference in their voices. The one who'd had the horses waiting at the gates had sounded Ferelden, but the other sounded Orlesian. "But there was a bird from Redcliffe. Arl Eamon's sending his forces down soon. Said he sent the same message to Ostagar."

"Hey, kid, you okay?" the Ferelden-sounding Warden asked Elyssa. "You haven't said anything since we left…"

"That is a discussion for another time," Duncan interrupted.

"Of course," the Ferelden Warden said. 

They rode all day and into the night. The moon had risen high and the stars were out before Duncan finally allowed them to stop and make camp. 

"I don't have my things," Elyssa said, speaking for the first time since escaping the castle. 

"Here, I've got an extra," said the Orlesian-sounding Warden. "I'm Freyan."

"Elyssa," she said simply, taking the offered bedroll.

"Like, the teyrn's daughter?" said the other Warden, surprised. "I didn't think Teyrn Cousland would be willing-"

"You might want to stop talking, Derek," Freyan said to the other Warden, chucking what appeared to be a balled-up sock at Derek's head. 

"Oh, um… Sorry," Derek said quickly before tossing the sock back to Freyan. "And you keep your socks to yourself."

Elyssa silently set out her bedroll, picketing her horse nearby. The others did the same, keeping their mounts close. Any other day, the exchange between Freyan and Derek would have made her laugh. After camp was made, Duncan called her over and showed her a map.

"We will be traveling south, through the Hinterlands, to reach the Korkari Wilds," he told her, pointing out the route. "The Tevinter Imperium built Ostagar long ago to prevelt the Wilders from invading the northern lowlands. This is where we will make our stand with the king's armies."

"Ostagar is… Tevinter?" Elyssa repeated. "That means it's older than the Chantry, before the time of Andraste." Duncan nodded.

"There are other Wardens there, all the Wardens in Ferelden," he continued. "Your brother should be there a few days before we are." Elyssa nodded.

"Staying alive is all that matters now," she said with a sigh. She returned to her bedroll and laid down, trying to sleep. But sleep did not come easily to her tonight. Whenever she closed her eyes, the attack on Highever castle kept replaying itself over and over. She didn't sleep well at all that night, or the nights following. She was quiet the entire trip to Ostagar, and rather short-tempered. Duncan spoke to her sometimes, but the other two preferred to stay quiet over the risk of making her mad. And neither of them ever did get her full story.


	7. King Cailan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting here is where everyone knows bits and pieces of what happened. A few good friends of mine were there at Ostagar, you know? But a good storyteller knows where to get all the parts for a good story. In this next part, Lady Cousland meets the King of Ferelden.

"The king's forces have clashed with the darkspawn several times, but here is where the bulk of the horde will show itself," Duncan said to Elyssa. He had been giving her lessons on the history of the Wardens as they traveled. Now, the two walked side-by-side into Ostagar, with Elyssa's loyal mabari at her other side. Duncan had sent Derek and Freyan ahead with the horses. "There are only a few Grey Wardens within Ferelden at the moment, but all of us are here."

"This Blight must be stopped, here and now," Elyssa continued for him, though her tone was rather bland. "If it spreads to the north, Ferelden will fall." She hadn't been very expressive since leaving Highever, and Duncan had noticed. She was not being very receptive to any sort of support, though. 

"Ho there, Duncan!" That voice was eerily familiar to Elyssa, though she couldn't place it anywhere in her memory. It was like the half-forgotten childhood friend who's face you could remember, but who's name constantly escaped you.

"King Cailan?" Duncan said, surprised. He and the king exchanged a handshake in the form of grasping forearms. "I didn't expect a-"

"A royal welcome?" Cailan asked with a grin. "I was beginning to worry you'd miss all the fun!" 

"Not if I could help it, your Majesty," Duncan responded, though he was more serious than Cailan seemed to be.

"Then I'll have the mighty Duncan at my side in battle after all. Glorious!" Cailan turned to look at Elyssa. "The other Wardens told me you found a promising new recruit. I take it this is she?"

"Allow me to introduce you, your Majesty," Duncan attempted. Cailan interrupted him.

"No need, Duncan," the king said, looking Elyssa over. "You are Bryce's youngest, are you not? I don't think we've ever actually met." 

"Yes, I am, and I bring important news," Elyssa told him, her voice sounding hollow once more. 

"Is it about your father?" Cailan asked. "Your brother has been concerned about him."

"You… Don't know what's happened?" Elyssa asked, surprised. 

"News from the north has been unreliable," Cailan admitted. "What's happened?"

"Teyrn Cousland and his wife are dead, your Majesty," Duncan continued for Elyssa. "Arl Howe has shown himself a traitor and overtaken Highever Castle. Had we not escaped, he would have killed us and told you any story he wished." Elyssa watched the king, eyes shining with desperation. It was not the emotion Duncan had wanted to see from her, but it was certainly better than the deadpan look she'd had for most of the journey here.

"I… can scarcely believe it!" Cailan said, shocked. "How could he think he would get away with such treachery!" He looked Elyssa right in the eye. "As soon as we are done here, I will turn my army north and bring Howe to justice. You have my word."

"Thank you, your Majesty," Elyssa said, a small flicker of hope in her eyes at last. 

"No doubt you wish to see your brother," Cailan continued, an apologetic look on his face. "Unfortunately he and his men are scouting in the Wilds." 

"When will he return?" she asked. 

"Not until the battle is over, I fear," Cailan admitted. "Until then, we cannot even send word." He paused and watched as she lowered her head, her dark hair falling to hide her face. "I apologize, but there is nothing more I can do. All I can suggest is that you vent your grief on the darspawn for the time being." Elyssa looked back up at him and brushed her hair behind her ears.

"So long as Arl Howe pays, I'm happy," she said, though her voice was hollow once more. 

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I should return to my tent," Cailan said, somewhat awkwardly. "Loghain waits eagerly to bore me with his strategies."

"Your uncle sends his greetings, and reminds you that Redcliffe forces could be here in less than a week," Duncan said to Cailan. Elyssa was glad to have no more need to speak, for the moment.

"Hah! Eamon just wants in on the glory!" Cailan laughed. "We've won three battles against these monsters, and tomorrow should be no different."

"You sound very confidant of that," Elyssa commented.

"Overconfident, some would say. Right Duncan?" Cailan said with a laugh. 

"Your Majesty, I'm not certain the Blight can be ended quite as… quickly as you might wish," Duncan said, choosing his words carefully. Cailan wasn't known to be a harsh king, but it was always wise to be careful around the nobility.

"I'm not even sure this is a true Blight," Cailan admitted. "There are plenty of darkspawn on the field, but, alas, we've seen no sign of an archdemon." 

"Disappointed, your Majesty?" Duncan asked.

"I'd hoped for a war like in the tales!" Cailan continued. "A king riding with the fabled Grey Wardens against a tainted god! But I suppose this will have to do. I must go before Loghain sends out a search party. Farewell, Grey Wardens." The king walked away, his two guards following him.

"What the king said is true," Duncan said to Elyssa. They've won several battles against the darkspawn here." 

"Yet you don't sound very reassured," Elyssa observed. Even in her current state, she was still very observant. Well, sometimes. Duncan motioned for her to walk with him. The two of them walked in the direction King Cailan had gone, with Kenai following behind.

"Despite the victories so far, the darkspawn horde grows larger with each passing day," he told her. "By now, they look to outnumber us. I know there is an archdemon behind this, but I cannot ask the king to act solely on my feeling."

"Then we should move quickly," she said.

"Yes, we should proceed with the ritual," Duncan agreed.

"What do you need me to do?" Elyssa asked.

"Feel free to explore the camp here as you wish," he said. "All I ask is that you do not leave it for the time being. There is another Grey Warden in the camp by the name of Alistair. When you are ready, seek him out and tell him it's time to summon the other recruits. Your hound can stay with me while I attend to some business." Kenai barked once, and Elyssa put a hand on his head, petting him between the ears. "The Grey Warden tent is on the other side of this bridge. You will find us there, should you need to." Elyssa nodded, and Duncan began to walk away, across the bridge. She watched him walk with her hound, suddenly getting hit by a great loneliness. It hadn't been quite as bad on the road down here, but now, surrounded by soldiers, she felt like she was on her own completely. And that scared her.


	8. Introductions

Elyssa wandered around the camp, watching the people that scurried around, the elves that ran from place to place carrying messages. The mages even had their own set of tents. She caught a couple of odd looks from people who noticed the crest on the shield she carried, but for the most part she ignored them.

She was walking by the mages tents when one of them stopped her. 

"Greetings, young lady," the woman said. "You are Duncan's newest recruit, are you not? You should be proud. He is not a man easily impressed." Elissa gave her a strange, sidelong look. "Allow me to introduce myself," the woman continued. "I am Wynne, one of the mages summoned by the king." 

"I am Elyssa," she said, simply but politely. Odds were that rumors were already circulating. No need to fan the flames by sharing the entirety of who she was. 

"Well met, and good luck to you on the battlefield," Wynne said. "To us all, in fact." 

"It's not luck, but skill that will save us," Elyssa muttered.

"And I'm sure you have plenty of that to offer," Wynne said gently. "To defeat the darkspawn, we have to work together. It's not an idea everyone seems able to grasp." 

"You've faced darkspawn before?" Elyssa asked, curiosity piqued. 

"Stragglers, yes. Not the vast hordes the scouts speak of," the woman admitted. "I wonder… How much do you know of the connection between darkspawn and the Fade?"

"I know the Fade is where you go when you dream," Elyssa said, somewhat embarrassed that she hadn't paid more attention to Brother Aldous's lessons.

"Anytime your spirit leaves your earthly body, whether it's to dream or to die, it passes into the realm we call the Fade," Wynne began. "It's home to many spirits, some benevolent, others far less so. At the heart of the Fade lies the Black City."

"So, what, darkspawn are just dream spirits?" Elyssa said, skeptical. 

"Sadly, no," Wynne continued. "They are kin to neither the gentle Fade spirits nor the malevolent demons. Shamefully, they were once the souls of men. Some say the Black City was once the seat of the Maker, but when the mages of the Tevinter Imperium forced their way in, it was tainted with their sin. That taint transformed those men, turning them into twisted reflections of their own hearts. And the Maker cast them back to the earth, where they became the first darkspawn. At least, that's what the Chant of Light says."

"I've heard that story before," Elyssa remembered. It had been one of Brother Aldous's favorite stories when she was little. 

"It may be allegory, meant to teach us that our own evil causes human suffering, or it may be true," Wynne said. "It is as good an explanation as any for now."

"I'll just kill every darkspawn I see," Elyssa sighed.

"A wise attitude. It's worked well for me in the past," the woman said. "But I'm certain Duncan has more for you to do than talk to me." Elyssa nodded and started walking again. 

Over by the Quartermaster, there was a man with a bow who seemed to be flirting with one of the female soldiers. He turned and saw her, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you're not what I thought you'd be," he said to her. Elyssa crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her voice harsh.

"Oh, me and ser knight were just betting on what the third recruit would be," he said. "Not a woman, but here you are. The name's Daveth. It's about bloody time you came along. I was beginning to think they cooked this ritual up just for our benefit."

"Isn't that a little paranoid?" Elyssa asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Ha! That depends on what life you've led," Daveth told her. "Me, I'm perfectly willing to accept that this Joining is some kind of punishment. I happened to be sneaking around camp last night, see, and I heard a couple of Grey Wardens talking, so I listen in for a bit. I'm thinking they plan to send us into the Wilds."

"So?" Elyssa challenged. "That wouldn't frighten me." Not after what she'd seen. Maybe if she hadn't nearly been killed by the traitorous bastard Rendon Howe, she would've felt differently about going into the Wilds. 

"Cannibals, beasts, witches, and now darkspawn? What isn't to be scared of?" Daveth asked. Elyssa knew this one would not last ten minutes with some of the rougher of Ferelden's nobility. "It's all too secretive for me. Makes my nose twitch. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Like we have a choice," he added bitterly.

"I'll watch your back if you watch mine," Elyssa told him. 

"Oh I'll watch your back," he laughed. 

"Or I could just kill you now," she snapped, glaring at him. 

"Aw, that's a little extreme. It's not like I can miss the scenery, is it?" he said, as what Elyssa assumed was supposed to be a form of apology. "Anyway, I expect its time to get back to Duncan. That’s where I'll be, if you need me for anything." And Daveth walked off toward where Duncan had said the Grey Warden tents would be. Elyssa sighed and walked up to the quartermaster, who showed her his wares after asking about some elf. She didn't have enough to buy better armor, unfortunately, but she had sold most of the stuff she didn't need. She kept looking around, and over by where it seemed an infirmary of sorts had been set up was another man who seemed to be the other recruit.

"Greetings," he said. "You must be the third recruit we've heard about?" 

"You've heard about me?" Elyssa asked.

"Not a great deal, we've been waiting for your arrival though," he said quickly. "Ser Jory is my name, and I hail from Redcliffe, where I served as knight under Arl Eamon. I was not aware they permitted women to join the Grey Wardens. None of those I've seen thus far have been."

"I am a warrior, just as you are," she said to him, eyes narrowed.

"You obviously impressed Duncan, and that's enough for me," Jory said to her. "I hope we're both lucky enough to eventually join the Wardens. Is it not thrilling to be given that chance?"

"I wouldn't be here if I had a choice in the matter," Elyssa admitted.

"I fought hard to get here. Impressing Duncan was not easy. Tell me, has anyone told you what this Joining ritual entails?" he asked.

"Daveth said we might be going into the Wilds," she told him.

"I never heard of such a ritual," Jory shared. "I had no idea there were more tests after getting recruited." Elyssa wasn't sure she liked this one. He seemed… Quite full of himself, really. Either very full of himself, or completely unsure of anything. "I suppose since you're finally here I'd best get back to Duncan. I shall see you there." And he too walked off. Elyssa went back down the slope, then turned left and went up a second one. To her right, she saw what seemed to be a pair of men, just talking. She walked up to them and caught the tail end of the conversation. 

"I simply came to deliver a message from the revered mother, ser mage," said the blond man in chainmail armor. "She desires your presence."

"What her reverence desires is of no concern to me!" the mage snapped. "I am busy helping the Grey Wardens - on the king's orders!" 

"Should I have asked her to write a note?" the blond man asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"Tell her that I will not be harassed in this manner!" the mage demanded angrily.

"Yes, I was harassing you by delivering a message," the other man said, raising an eyebrow. Elyssa knew she'd normally find the entire scene very funny, but she couldn't bring herself to feel more than slight annoyance about the whole thing. 

"Your glibness does you no credit," the mage muttered.

"And here I thought we were getting along so well!" the one in chainmail said, his tone almost mocking. "I was even going to name one of my children after you… the grumpy one."

"Enough, I will speak to the woman if I must," the mage said as he turned with a huff. "Out of my way, fool!" Elyssa watched the mage walk away. None of them would have dared treat her like that in Highever! She caught herself. Highever wasn't hers, not right now. But she had sworn to get it back, and she would do so.

"You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together," the blond man said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"I know exactly what you mean," Elyssa responded with a sigh. 

"It's like a party!" the man continued, grinning goofily. He looked good with a smile, Elyssa realized, before she reigned in her thoughts again. "We could all stand in a circle and hold hands. THAT would give the darkspawn something to think about." He paused and looked at her closer. "Wait, we haven't met, have we? I don't suppose you happen to be another mage?"

"Don't worry, I'm no mage," she told him softly.

"Less being yelled at for me then," he said, a hint of humor in his voice. "Though the day is still young. Wait, I do know who you are. You're Duncan's new recruit, from Highever. I should've recognized you right away, I apologize."

"That must make you Alistair," Elyssa realized. The other Warden that Duncan had mentioned.

"Did Duncan mention me?" Alistair asked. "Nothing bad, I hope?" Elyssa shook her head. "As the junior member of the order, I'll be accompanying you when you prepare for the Joining." 

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Elyssa."

"Right, that was the name," he said. "You know, it just occurred to me that there have never been many women in the Grey Wardens. I wonder why that is?"

"I can handle myself better than most," Elyssa said sharply, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm getting that impression," Alistair said with a small laugh. "So, I'm curious. Have you ever actually encountered darkspawn before?"

"No, they don't usually come as far north as Highever," Elyssa informed him. 

"When I fought my first one, I wasn't prepared for how monstrous it was. I can't say I'm looking forward to encountering another," he admitted. "Anyhow, whenever you're ready, let's get back to Duncan. I imagine he's eager to get things started."

"That argument I saw, what was it about?" she asked after a moment.

"With the mage?" Alistair asked. "The Circle is here at the king's request, and the Chantry doesn't like that one bit. They just **love** letting mages know how unwelcome they are."

_Oh, I'll bet,_ Elyssa agreed silently.

"Which puts me in a bit of an awkward position," Alistair continued. "I was once a templar."

"You were a mage-hunter?" Elyssa asked. Most of Ferelden's Templars were in the Circle Tower, in Lake Calenhad. The only templars that had ever come through Highever were to escort young mages to the tower, or to hunt apostates. 

"Not that that's all templars do, but yes. The Chantry raised me until Duncan recruited me six months ago," Alistair continued. "I'm sure the revered mother meant it as an insult, sending me as her messenger. And the mage picked right up on that." He sighed. "I never would've agreed to deliver it, but Duncan says we're all to cooperate and get along. Apparently they didn't get the same speech."

"Well, I look forward to traveling with you," she said, almost automatically. 

"You do? Huh. That's a switch," Alistair said, which caught her attention. "If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, lead on." So, off they went back down to where Duncan was waiting with the other recruits.


	9. Into the Wilds

Alistair and Elyssa got to the fire that Duncan was waiting beside. Daveth and Jory were there too, but they were giving Elyssa's mabari a wide berth. Yet another thought that would've been funny before all this had begun. As it was, Elyssa took her place with the other recruits, with Kenai at her side opposite to Daveth and Jory. Elyssa looked expectantly at Duncan. He noted that she was at least showing emotion now, which was better than she'd been before. 

"You found Alistair, did you?" Duncan said as they approached. "Good. I'll assume you are ready to begin preparations. Assuming, of course, that you're quite finished riling up mages, Alistair," Duncan added exasperatedly. Elyssa wondered if this wasn't the first time that argument she'd seen had happened before. With Alistair being a former templar, that was only to be expected.

"What can I say? The revered mother ambushed me," Alistair said in his defense, though his tone was light. "The way she wields guilt they should stick her in the army."

"She forced you to sass the mage, did she?" Duncan asked, giving Alistair a look that Elyssa remembered seeing on her own father's face as a child. "We cannot afford to antagonize anyone, Alistair. We don't need to give anyone more ammunition against us." 

The other two recruits gave each other puzzled looks, but Elyssa knew what Duncan was talking about. The Grey Wardens had been exiled from Ferelden for over a hundred years, sometime between the Fourth Blight at the end of the Age of Towers, and the Blessed Age. The late King Maric, King Cailan's father, had only allowed the Grey Wardens to return as recently as twenty years ago, at the beginning of the Dragon Age. 

At least she'd paid attention to some of Brother Aldous's lessons. She thought he'd be proud of her for remembering that much about the Wardens. 

"You're right Duncan," Alistair conceded. "I apologize."

"Now then, since you are all here, we can begin," Duncan said, getting the recruits' attention. "You four will be heading into the Korkari Wilds to perform two tasks. The first is to obtain darkspawn blood, one for each recruit."

"What's the second task?" Elyssa asked before Daveth or Jory could make a comment about the Wilds being dangerous. Daveth had seemed annoyed by it all, while Jory had seemed more scared than he let on. 

"There was once a Grey Warden archive in the Wilds, abandoned long ago when we could no longer afford to maintain such remote outposts," Duncan began. Elyssa knew what he really meant. It was abandoned when the Grey Wardens were exiled from Ferelden. That place must be little more than ruins now. "It has come to our attention that some scrolls have been left behind, magically sealed to protect them. Alistair, I want you to retrieve these scrolls, if you can."

"What kind of scrolls are these?" Elyssa asked.

"Old treaties, if you're curious," Duncan explained. "Promises of support made to the Grey Wardens long ago. They were once considered only formalities. With so many having forgotten their commitments to us, I suspect it may be a good idea to have something to remind them with."

"Find the archive and three vials of blood. Understood," Elyssa repeated, sounding more like a soldier than the daughter of a nobleman. 

"Watch over your charges Alistair," Duncan said, turning to him. "Return quickly, and safely."

"We will," Alistair assured him.

"Then may the Maker watch over your path," Duncan said. "I will see you when you return." 

Elyssa turned to her mabari and got on one knee before him. "Kenai, you stay here, okay?" she said to him. He barked once. "Good boy. I'll see if I can find something for you while we're out there." Another bark. 

Alistair watched as Elyssa spoke to her hound, telling the mabari to stay with Duncan. There was a softness in her face that he hadn't seen yet. Yes, he'd only just met her, but he could tell already that what got her here wasn't easy.

Elyssa stood. "Let's get going," she said to the boys. Alistair nodded, and the two of them, along with Daveth and Jory, went toward the gate at the edge of camp. The guard at the gate stopped them to warn them about being out after dark due to the darkspawn, and then they were off.

"Alistair, do you know the schedules for the Wilds patrols?" Elyssa asked suddenly.

"No, I don't," he answered. "Why?"

"I… My brother is supposed to be out on a patrol, and there are… things I need to tell him," she said, somewhat evasively. "The sooner the better."

"Odds are he'll be back in camp after the battle," Alistair reminded her. "You'll be able to find him then."

Elyssa nodded, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. She loved the views Ostagar had, they were nothing like Highever. But the views were really the only good thing this place had going for it. Something about Ostagar made her nervous. Even the king's promise to bring Howe to justice couldn't settle her. 

They stumbled onto what looked like a patrol's ruined supplies. Elyssa's heart caught in her throat when she saw what was obviously a battlefield. But there was a single soldier there. Alive, but only just. Alistair bandaged the soldier, who refused to allow them to take him back to camp, and the soldier went back in the direction their party had come. Elyssa watched him, silently cursing herself for not asking the soldier about Fergus. What if that had been her brother's patrol? Did that mean Fergus was dead now too…? She didn't know if she could handle that on top of everything else.

"An entire patrol of seasoned men killed by darkspawn!"

"Calm down, Ser Jory," Alistair said, in an attempt to be comforting. "We'll be fine if we're careful."

"Those soldiers were careful, and they were still overwhelmed," Jory continued, sounding panicked. "How many darkspawn can the four of us slay? A dozen? A hundred? There's an entire army in these forests!"

"There are darkspawn about, but we're in no danger of walking into the bulk of the horde," Alistair said, sounding like he was trying to calm down a child.

"How do you know?" Jory countered. "I'm not a coward, but this is foolish and reckless. I say we go back." Elyssa rolled her eyes. Not a coward, he said. Sure sounded like one, for a Knight of Redcliffe. 

"Overcoming these dangers is part of our test," she said, somewhat impatiently. 

"That's… true…" Jory conceded. 

"Know this: All Grey Wardens can sense darkspawn," Alistair told them. "Whatever their cunning, I guarantee they won't take us by surprise. That's why I'm here."

"You see ser knight? We might die, but we'll be warned about it first," Daveth joked. Elyssa found this whole thing starting to give her a headache.

"That is… reassuring?"

"That doesn't mean I'm here to make this easy, however," Alistair reminded them. "So let's get a move on." Elyssa nodded and automatically started leading the way through the Wilds. Daveth told her about the kennel master looking for a particular flower that could help the hounds that got sick from biting darkspawn, so Elyssa made sure to grab a few when she saw them. As they walked, Elyssa found out that Jory had been recruited from Highever, where he'd been with his wife. But he didn't seem to recognize Elyssa, and for that she was thankful. She didn't need her family name getting brandied about while there were darkspawn to be fought.


	10. Witch of the Wilds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've actually met this so-called Witch of the Wilds, but when I knew her she was hanging around the Orlesian nobility. Met her mother too, actually. And yes, Flemeth is real.

When they found the old tower, they went inside and found a broken chest that probably held the scrolls at one point, though it was empty now. Elyssa sighed and turned back to the boys.

"Well, what do we do now?" she asked. Alistair opened his mouth to respond when another voice answered instead. 

"Well, well, what have we here?" The voice sounded like a woman, and when Elyssa looked over, she spotted the woman in question. Pale skin, as was common for this area of Thedas, black hair, and… odd clothing. One of the Chasind, maybe? "Are you a vulture, I wonder?" the woman continued. "A scavenger poking amidst a corpse whose bones were long since cleaned? Or merely an intruder, come into these darkspawn filled Wilds of mine in search of easy prey?" The woman stopped walking and faced them. Elyssa looked warily at the woman. She was not going to trust anything anyone said up front, not anymore. Well, except maybe Alistair and Duncan. Duncan had saved her life, and Alistair… Alistair was just too open to be able to really lie about anything, so it seemed from the little time she'd known him. 

"What say you, hmm? Scavenger, or intruder?" the woman asked again.

"Intruder?" Elyssa scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "And just how are these your Wilds?"

The woman laughed. "Because I know them as only one who owns them could," she explained simply. "Can you claim the same?" The woman started walking again, and went around the group of Wardens. "I have watched your progress for some time," she continued to speak. "Where do they go, I wondered. Why are they here?" The woman stood on a small hill before the group and turned to face them. "And now, you disturb ashes none have touched for so long. Why is that?" 

"Don't answer her," Alistair muttered quietly. "She looks Chasind, and that means others may be nearby."

 _At least I wasn't the only one who realized that,_ Elyssa told herself.

"Ooh, you fear barbarians will swoop down upon you?" the woman asked in a mocking tone.

"Yes, swooping is bad," Alistair responded slowly. Elyssa rolled her eyes again. 

"She's a Witch of the Wilds, she is!" Daveth muttered suddenly. "She'll turn us into toads!" Elyssa sighed. What was it with the men around here? Duncan didn't seem to be afraid of much, he'd even faced down Howe's men without blinking. But the men he'd found? That was a whole different story.

"Witch of the Wilds?" the woman repeated. "Such idle fancies, those legends. Have you no minds of your own?" Elyssa found herself liking this woman already. She was a bit odd, but at least they felt the same about the men Elyssa was traveling with. "You there," the woman said, looking at Elyssa. "Women do not frighten like little boys. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine."

"I am Elyssa. A pleasure to meet you," Elyssa said automatically. That was how she'd greeted everyone else she'd met back in Highever, after all. 

"Now, that is a proper civil greeting, even here in the Wilds." the woman said, sounding surprised. "You may call me Morrigan." She paused and looked at the chest. "Shall I guess your purpose here? You sought something in that chest, something that is here no longer?"

"Here no longer?" Alistair repeated. "You stole them, didn't you? You're… some kind of… sneaky… witch-thief!"

"How very eloquent," Morrigan said, echoing Elyssa's thoughts. "How does one steal from dead men?"

"Very easily, it seems," Alistair responded. "Those documents are Grey Warden property, and I suggest you return them."

"I will not, for 'twas not I who removed them," Morrigan said. "Invoke a name that means nothing here any longer if you wish, I am not threatened."

"Then who removed them?" Elyssa asked before Alistair could speak again.

"'Twas my mother, in fact," Morrigan responded simply.

"Can you take us to her?" Elyssa said, once again before Alistair could speak. 

"There is a sensible request," Morrigan responded with a grin. "I like you."

"I'd be careful," Alistair said. "First it's 'I like you!' then _zap!_ Frog time." Elyssa rolled her eyes again. 

"She'll put us all in the pot, she will!" Daveth said quickly. "Just you watch." Why was he panicking? Morrigan hadn't done anything to them, other than seemingly appearing out of nowhere. But stealth was not a skill that required magic.

"If the pot's warmer than this forest, it'd be a nice change," Jory responded. Elyssa sighed. 

"Follow me then, if it pleases you," Morrigan said, turning and walking away. Elyssa started following immediately, and after a moment of hesitation, the others followed as well. 

Morrigan led them through the Wilds, to what appeared to be just some old hut. There was an old woman standing outside.  
________________________________________________

"Greetings, Mother," Morrigan said as she walked over to stand behind the old woman. "I bring before you four Grey Wardens who-"

"I see them, girl," the old woman interrupted. "Much as I expected."

"Are we supposed to believe you were expecting us?" Alistair asked, chuckling.

"You are required to do nothing, least of all believe," Morrigan's mother said. "Shut one's eyes tight or open one's arms wide… either way, one's a fool."

"She's a witch, I tell you! We shouldn't be talking to her!"

"Quiet Daveth!" Jory said quickly. "If she's really a witch, do you want to make her mad?" Elyssa sighed. Why did people put so much stock in superstition? Most of those stories weren't true anyway. Well, except the legend of Flemeth, part of that one at least was true. Flemeth killed Lord Conobar, which started the thirty-year war that ended with Highever in Cousland hands. Or, that was what her lessons had said, anyway.

"There is a smart lad," Morrigan's mother said. "Sadly irrelevant in the larger scheme of things, but it is not I who decides. Believe what you will." The old woman stepped closer to Elyssa. "And what of you? Does your woman's mind give you a different viewpoint? Or do you believe as these boys do?"

"I'm not sure what to believe," Elyssa admitted. 

"A statement that possesses more wisdom than it implies," the old woman said. "Be always aware… or is it oblivious? I can never remember." She paused and looked once more at Elyssa. "So much about you is uncertain… and yet I believe. Do I? Why, it seems I do!"

"So… this is a dreaded Witch of the Wilds?" Alistair asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Witch of the Wilds, eh?" the old woman echoed. "Morrigan must have told you that. She fancies such tales, though she would never admit it. Oh, how she dances under the moon!" The old woman laughed, and Elyssa could see Morrigan sigh and roll her eyes.

"They did not come to listen to your wild tales, Mother," Morrigan reminded the old woman. 

"True, they came for their treaties yes? And before you begin barking, your precious seal wore off long ago. I have protected these," she said, handing the scrolls to Alistair. 

"You… Oh… you protected them?" Alistair said, almost sounding confused. 

"And why not?" the old woman challenged. "Take them to your Grey Wardens and tell them this Blight's threat is greater than they realize!"

"How do you know all this?" Elyssa asked, a bit skeptical. 

"Do I? Perhaps I am simply an old woman with a penchant for moldy parchments," she said with a laugh. "Oh, do not mind me. You have what you came for."

"Time for you to go then," Morrigan said.

"Do not be ridiculous, girl," her mother interrupted. "These are your guests."

"Oh, very well," Morrigan sighed. "I will show you out of the woods." Elyssa looked back at Alistair before following Morrigan, who left them a short ways before the gate back to the Ostagar camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've got, like, 18 chapters typed up right now, so instead of going with one chapter per week, I'm going to do one per day until I get caught up.


	11. The Joining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Joining is a closely guarded secret within the Wardens. But you already knew that, right?

They made their way back to Duncan, stopping by the kennel master to give him the flowers, and Kenai lifted his head from where it had been resting on his paws. He barked once in greeting. Elyssa gave him a quick pat between the ears.

"So, you've returned from the Wilds," Duncan noted as they approached. "Have you been successful?"

"We have," Elyssa said as she handed the vials of blood and the scrolls to him. 

"Good," Duncan said as he took them. "I've had the Circle mages preparing. With the blood you've retrieved, we can begin the Joining immediately."

"Maybe we should tell you about Morrigan and her mother," Elyssa suggested, glancing at Alistair.

"There was a woman in the tower, and her mother had the scrolls," he explained simply. "They were both very… odd."

"Were they Wilder folk?" Duncan asked, almost curious.

"I don't think so," Alistair said thoughtfully. "They might be apostates, mages hiding from the Chantry."

"I know you were once a templar, Alistair, but Chantry business is not ours," Duncan reminded him. "We have the scrolls, let us focus on the Joining."

"I am ready," Elyssa said without hesitation. It wasn't like she had anything to go back to, after all. 

"Excellent," Duncan said, offering her a hint of a smile. "You will need that courage for what comes next."

"Courage?" Daveth asked. "How much danger are we in?" Elyssa gave him an exasperated look.

"I will not lie, we Grey Wardens pay a heavy price to become what we are," Duncan told them. "Fate may decree that you pay your price now, rather than later."

"I've come this far," Elyssa said after a moment. "I want to see this through." She had made a promise, to her parents and to Duncan. She wouldn't go back on that now.

"I agree," said Jory. "Let's have it done." 

"Then let us begin. Alistair, take them to the old temple," Duncan said. Alistair nodded and led them through the camp, back up to where Elyssa had found him earlier that day. Had it only been earlier that day? So much had already happened… And there was fighting to be done tonight.

"The more I hear about this Joining, the less I like it," muttered Jory. 

_Oh, great. Here we go,_ Elyssa silently groaned. 

"Are you blubbering again?" Daveth accused.

_Pot, meet kettle…_ Elyssa was tempted to say. This time, though, she held her tongue.

"Why all these damned tests?" Jory wondered. "Have I not earned my place?"

"Maybe it's tradition," Daveth said sarcastically. "Maybe they're just trying to annoy you."

_Wasn't I just calling you paranoid a few hours ago because you didn't want to go into the Wilds?_ Elyssa wondered silently. She sighed. Boys…

"I swear, I'm the bravest one here, and I'm a woman," she said, irritated. Why couldn't these two just shut up? They couldn't quit talking even while they were in the Wilds.

"I only know that my wife is in Highever with a child on the way," Jory said defensively. Elyssa looked away at the mention of her home. Did Jory know what had happened to her family? "If they had warned me… It just doesn't seem fair."

_Yeah, well, life isn't fair. Stop whining already._

"Would you have come if they'd warned you?" Daveth countered. "Maybe that's why they don't. The Wardens do what they must, right?"

"Including sacrificing us?" Jory asked accusingly.

"I'd sacrifice a lot more if I knew it would end the Blight," Daveth argued.

"Will you both shut up?" Elyssa snapped. "You're giving me a headache."

"Yeah, ser knight, try not to wet your trousers until the ritual starts," Daveth snarked, earning a glare from Elyssa. 

"I've just never faced a foe I could not engage with my blade," Jory said, a feeble attempt to defend himself again. Elyssa sighed, frustrated. Where was Duncan already?

"At last we come to the Joining." Well, talk about timing. Duncan walked past them, to a small table with an almost overlarge goblet on it. "The Grey Wardens were founded during the first Blight, when humanity stood on the verge of annihilation." Jory was watching Duncan warily. "And so it was that the first Grey Wardens drank of darkspawn blood and mastered their taint."

"We're.. going to drink the blood of those… creatures?" Jory exclaimed. 

"As the first Grey Wardens did before us, as we did before you," Duncan continued. " **This** is the source of our power, and our victory."

"Those who survive the Joining become immune to the taint," Alistair said, continuing for Duncan. "We can sense it in the darkspawn and use it to slay the archdemon."

"Let's get on with it then," Elyssa said, ignoring the _those who survive_ part of what Alistair had said. Either she would be strong enough to survive, or she would be too weak and the Joining would kill her. If that was what happened, then so be it. 

"We speak only a few words prior to the Joining," Duncan said. "Alistair, if you would?"

"Join us, brothers and sisters," Alistair began to recite. He and Duncan bowed their heads and closed their eyes, so Elyssa did the same. It felt right. "Join us in the shadows where we stand, vigilant. Join us in the duty that cannot be foresworn. And, should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten and that one day we shall join you." Elyssa raised her head and opened her eyes, noting how pale Jory had gone. Daveth, while being afraid of what was coming, seemed to accept that there was nothing for him to return to either. That, at least, she had in common with him. 

"Daveth, step forward," Duncan said, handing him the goblet. Daveth drank what was in it, and, after a moment, he started to scream and cough. Elyssa's eyes widened in fear. For once, she was afraid of this.

"Maker's breath!" Jory muttered, retreating backward toward one of the stone pillars that still stood.

Daveth collapsed, and went silent. He was so still, he seemed dead. A quick glance at Alistair told her that Daveth was indeed dead.

"I am sorry Daveth," Duncan muttered before turning to Jory. "Step forward Jory."

"But… I have a wife. A child! Had I known…" Jory protested. But Elyssa knew what was about to happen before it did. Jory knew the secret about the Joining… He drew his blade.

"There is know turning back," Duncan said, his voice suddenly going dark.

"No!" Jory continued to protest. "You ask too much! There is no glory in this!" Duncan drew his dagger, and Jory tried to defend himself against it. Duncan, however, was too fast for Jory. 

"I am sorry," Duncan said to the gasping Jory, before he fell to the ground. Blood soaked the stone pillar, and then the ground as Jory died. Elyssa stood there, shocked. Daveth had been killed by the blood, and Duncan had run Jory through! Well, that gave her only one option. "But the Joining is not yet complete." He offered the goblet to Elyssa, who took it after a moment's hesitation. "Elyssa, you are called upon to submit yourself to the taint for the greater good." She downed what was left in the goblet, swallowing it despite the horrid taste. "From this moment on, you are a Grey Warden."

Her throat burned as the darkspawn blood went down. She felt her own blood begin to burn, and she doubled over into a coughing fit. The voices began to fill her head, and then she saw something that she knew couldn't be real. But at the same time, she was certain it was. The beast was twisted and wrong. Its black flesh wrapped around a distorted bone structure. The membranes on its wings were riddled with small holes, and the fangs that stuck out from its upper jaw were easily as long as her forearm, if not longer. The dragon roared, loudly, and the sound felt like it was splitting her head open. She heard a scream in the distance, and dimly registered that it was her own voice. Then everything started going dark. First the edges, and then it tunneled until all she could see was the dragon's huge, corrupted eye. Then there was nothing.

She became aware of the pounding headache first. And then that whatever she was laying on was cold. She forced her eyes open and saw Alistair and Duncan both looking down at her. She groaned and forced herself to sit up. 

"It is finished," Duncan said to her. "Welcome."

"Two more deaths," Alistair sighed, shaking his head. "In my Joining, only one of us died, but it was… horrible. I'm glad at least one of you made it through." He offered Elyssa a hand, and she took it. He pulled her to her feet, and she struggled to remain there for a moment. Oddly enough, the headache was beginning to fade now that she'd gotten upright again. 

"How do you feel?" Duncan asked, his voice more gentle than she'd heard it in a while. He hadn't sounded like that since the first few days away from Highever.

"I still can't believe you killed Ser Jory," Elyssa admitted. Alistair looked at her, noticing that, though she seemed a bit pale, there was more emotion on her face than anything he'd seen so far.

"Jory was warned that there was no turning back, as were you all," Duncan explained. "When he went for his blade, however, he left me no choice." Elyssa could see that his words were genuine. "It brought me no pleasure to end his life. The Blight demands sacrifices from us all. Thankfully, you stand here as proof they are not all made in vain." 

"Did you have dreams?" Alistair asked. "I had terrible dreams after my Joining."

"Such dreams come when you begin to sense the darkspawn, as we all do," Duncan said simply. "That and many other things can be explained in the months to come." 

"Before I forget, there is one last part to your Joining," Alistair spoke up. "We take some of that blood and put it in a pendant. Something to remind us… of those who didn't make it this far." Elyssa's jaw seemed to tense at his words, and he wondered again what exactly she'd had to go through to get where she was now. But he gave her the pendant, and she put it around her neck without hesitation. 

"Take some time," Duncan suggested. "When you are ready, I'd like you to accompany me to a meeting with the king."

"What kind of meeting?" Elyssa asked.

"The king is discussing strategy for the upcoming battle," he explained. "I am not sure why he has requested your presence. The meeting is to the west, down the stairs. Please attend as soon as you are able." Elyssa nodded, and she stayed where she was while Duncan and Alistair walked off.

She walked slowly back to the fire, where her hound was waiting for her. He ran up to her, barking excitedly, then he started sniffing her.

"Do I smell different now?" she asked him softly. She got to her knees near the fire, oblivious to Alistair's presence. "You're behaving so well here…" Elyssa sighed and put her hands lightly on Kenai's neck. One hand went to the loose collar that he still sported. It was a stretched braid, one that he'd had for the last year or so. The Cousland crest was printed around it, but the color had been leeched from it by the sun. She sighed quietly. "Do you think Mother and Father would be proud of me?" Kenai barked once. "I think you can start coming with me again, now that I'm a full Warden. There are plenty of other hounds around here, and almost everyone here knows that a mabari is best at its master's side." Kenai started wagging his tail excitedly. Elyssa smiled weakly at her hound, though her blue eyes seemed sad. "I wish we could go find Fergus… He still doesn't know…" She sighed and stood. "Come on Kenai, we've got to get to that meeting."

Alistair watched Elyssa with her hound as he leaned against one of the stone pillars that stood around the Wardens' fire. She had seemed almost empty when he'd met her earlier that day, and rather easily annoyed. She carried herself like a noble, but she didn't always talk like one. And what noble knew how to fight as well as she did? Besides that, she had a shield that bore the crest of the Cousland family. Maybe she'd been one of Highever's soldiers? Maybe part of the castle guard? That was the only thing that really made sense, in his mind. When she smiled, he froze. Even with such a sad look on her face, she still looked quite pretty… He stopped his thoughts there and mentally shook himself. No, he couldn't. Obviously she'd gone through a lot before Duncan brought her here. Besides, they had a battle to focus on. He watched as she stood and walked off, her hound at her side once more.


	12. The Battle of Ostagar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knows the stories of what happened at Ostagar. But nobody can tell which version of the battle is the truth. Some people say that Loghain pulled his men because he knew the battle was going to end badly. Others say that he'd been aiming for the crown for years. This is just one version of the battle.

"Loghain, my decision is final," came Cailan's voice as Elyssa approached the table where Duncan had said the meeting was. "I will stand by the Grey Wardens in this assault."

"You risk too much, Cailan," the man called Loghain said. He had black hair to his shoulders, and cold, dark eyes. "The darkspawn horde is too dangerous for you to be playing hero on the front lines." Well, his logic was theoretically sound. But the king didn't seem to be having any of it.

"If that's the case, perhaps we should wait for the Orlesian forces to join us, after all," Cailan challenged. Elyssa walked around the table to stand next to Duncan. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, a silent question as to what was going on. Duncan responded with only the smallest shake of his head. Her answering nod was equally small, and so she said nothing.

"I must repeat my protest to your fool notion that we need the Orlesians to defend ourselves!" Loghain said frustratedly. Loghain was the Hero of River Dane, one of the battles that helped free Ferelden from Orlesian occupation before King Maric took the throne. He was also the father of Queen Anora, King Cailan's wife. Though Anora really didn't look much like Loghain.

"It is not a fool notion," Cailan declared, his voice even despite the badgering. "Our arguments with the Orlesians are a thing of the past… and you will remember who is king." Woah. Cailan really could get mad, then. The man she watched now was vastly different from the cheerful, if a bit airheaded, man she'd met that morning. He actually knew what he was talking about. Well, sort of. 

"How fortunate Maric did not live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who enslaved us for a century!" Loghain spat. Elyssa was really glad she'd stayed quiet, rather than announcing her presence. This was not something she wanted to be in the middle of.

"Then our current forces will have to suffice, won't they?" Cailan said, sounding irritated. He turned to face the table and looked at Duncan. "Duncan, are your men ready for battle?"

"They are, your Majesty," he confirmed.

"And this is the lady from Highever I met earlier?" Cailan asked. Elyssa nodded. "I understand congratulations are in order."

"Thank you, your Majesty," she responded politely. Thankfully the shock from the Joining had worn off, and her voice was even again. 

"Every Grey Warden is needed now," he continued. "You should be honored to join their ranks."

"Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan!" Loghain began again, clearly not an easy person to distract. "We must attend to reality." 

"Fine, speak your strategy," Cailan said, giving in. Was being married really like having a second set of parents? If that's what she had to look forward to, Elyssa was glad she hadn't yet. "The Grey Wardens and I draw the darkspawn into charging our lines, and then…?" He and Loghain leaned over a map of what looked like the area south of Ostagar, where the main battle would take place. 

"You will alert the tower to light the beacon, signaling my men to charge from cover," Loghain continued. 

"To flank the darkspawn, I remember," Cailain said quickly. "This is the Tower of Ishal in the ruins, yes? Who shall light this beacon?"

"I have a few men stationed there," Loghain said. "It's not a dangerous task, but it is vital."

"Then we should send our best," Cailan decided. "Send Alistair and the new Grey Warden to make sure it's done." Elyssa raised an eyebrow at the thought of being sent on what only sounded like an errand, but she held her tongue.

"I'll do my best, your Majesty," is what she said instead.

"You rely on these Grey Wardens too much," Loghain began again. "Is that truly wise?"

_What's Loghain got against Wardens anyway?_ Elyssa wondered silently. _Is it because of the exile after the Fourth Blight?_

"Enough of your conspiracy theories Loghain," Cailan said with a frustrated sigh. "Grey Wardens battle the Blight, no matter where they're from." Ah, right. Loghain and his thing about Orlesians.

"Your Majesty, you should consider the possibility of the archdemon appearing," Duncan interjected, in an attempt to avoid the same argument that Elyssa had walked in on. 

"There have been no signs of dragons in the Wilds," Loghain said unhelpfully.

"Isn't that what your men are here for Duncan?"

"I… Yes, your Majesty," Duncan conceded. 

"Your Majesty, the tower and its beacon are unnecessary," said a mage who had been standing off to the side. "The Circle of Magi-"

"We will not trust any lives to your spells, mage!" interrupted a woman in Chantry robes. "Save them for the darkspawn!" Apparently it really had only been Alistair that got the _cooperate and get along_ speech from Duncan.

"Enough!" Loghain said before the mage could start talking again. "This plan will suffice. The Grey Wardens will light the beacon."

"Thank you, Loghain," Cailan said. Loghain turned and started walking off. "I cannot wait for that glorious moment! The Grey Wardens battle beside the king of Ferelden to stem the tide of evil!" Elyssa found herself agreeing with Loghain. Cailan did seem too focused on legends, almost as much as Daveth had been. 

"Yes Cailan," Loghain said, pausing. "A glorious moment for us all." Elyssa thought she heard something in his voice as he spoke, but he walked away and she put it out of her mind. The meeting was adjourned, and Duncan and Elyssa made their way back to the Grey Warden tents. Alistair was still waiting by the fire.

"You heard the plan," Duncan said after they were standing before him. "You and Alistair will go to the Tower of Ishal and ensure that the beacon is lit."

"What?" Alistair asked, confused. "I won't be in the battle?"

"This is by the king's personal request, Alistair," Duncan assured him, speaking calmly. "If the beacon is not lit, Teyrn Loghain's men won't know when to charge."

"So he needs two Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch. Just in case, right?" Alistair muttered. 

"Where is this Tower of Ishal, exactly?" Elyssa asked. 

"The tower is on the other side or the gorge from the king's camp, the way we came when we arrived," Duncan explained. Oh, so it was across the bridge, near where they'd met Cailan that morning. "You'll need to cross the gorge and head through the gate and up to the towers entrance. From the top, you'll overlook the entire valley."

"Sounds easy enough," Elyssa said, one hand absently fingering the Warden's Oath pendant that now hung around her neck.

"We will signal you when the time is right," Duncan said. "Alistair will know what to look for." A thought struck Elyssa then.

"What if the archdemon appears?" she asked slowly. 

"We soil our drawers, that's what," Alistair said, his joke falling flat with the deadpan tone he used.

"If it does, leave it to us," Duncan ordered. "I want no heroics from either of you." 

"I know what I have to do," Elyssa said with a nod. She looked down at Kenai, who was ever present at her side. "You ready Kenai?" He barked once. 

"Then I must join the others," Duncan told them. "From here, you two are on your own. Remember, you are both Grey Wardens. I expect you to be worthy of that title." He turned to walk away.

"Duncan!" Alistair said suddenly. "May the Maker watch over you."

"May He watch over us all," Duncan responded before he headed off in the direction the other Wardens had gone. Elyssa looked over at Alistair, and they nodded at each other before making their way over to the bridge. Elyssa paused and looked out over the battlefield. On their side was a vast number of men and women wearing armor that glinted in the flickering light from the fires. The archers fired their arrows, and then the hounds were released on the seething darkspawn horde. Then the soldiers charged. Elyssa followed with her eyes as a large fireball soared through the sky and broke a large piece of one of the stone arches off the top of the Tower of Ishal. Well, great. The battle had just started and already the ruins were getting a serious battering. 

She almost felt sorry for it. Almost. 

They got across the bridge without incident, though Alistair got knocked over by the force of a fireball hitting the stone. Elyssa raised an eyebrow as she waited for him to catch up, once she was standing safely on the other side. 

"You're kind of a clutz, aren't you?" she asked him.

"I wasn't the only one falling over from the force of the impact," he protested as they continued moving. Elyssa glanced at him and sighed. 

"You're already injured and we haven't even gotten to the tower yet," she muttered, reaching into one of the bags Kenai was wearing. She pulled out a small jar and opened the lid. She stuck her fingers in it and drew out some odd white substance, which Alistair found her smearing on his cheek. "It was already starting to blister. That should keep it from getting worse, at least," she explained as she put away the cream. "I got the recipe from one of the elves," she explained, somewhat awkwardly, obviously avoiding his eyes. She started moving again, and Alistair followed wordlessly. His mind wandered back to the sad smile he'd seen her give her hound before she went to the meeting with Duncan. He shook his head as he followed her, this was SO not the time!

They got to the base of the tower and were intercepted by a pair of men. One was wearing armor that Elyssa recognized as that of Loghain's troops, and the other man was wearing Circle Mage robes. 

"You! You're Grey Wardens, aren't you?" asked the armored man. "The tower… it's been taken!" he continued, panicked. 

"What are you talking about, man, taken how?" Alistair asked, keeping his voice even. 

"The darkspawn came through the lower chambers," the armored man explained, turning to look at the tower again. "They're everywhere! Most of our men are dead!" 

"Then we have to get to the beacon and light it ourselves!" Alistair declared. Elyssa nodded. That's what they were there for, after all. 

"You! Go help the men on the bridge!" Elyssa told the armored soldier. He nodded and ran off. With Alistair, the mage, and her hound, another person coming with them would just slow them down. And Elyssa wasn't about to tell Kenai to go somewhere other than by her side in this fight. So they went up the tower. After dispatching the darkspawn waiting at the base, of course.

As they went around the first floor, searching for the stairs, Elyssa stopped at a gaping hole in the floor. 

"Looks like we found how they got here," she said to Alistair. "We need to remember this for the next fight, using the beacon in the tower isn't practical anymore, and we'll need to make sure we get more men stationed here. Having this is a serious breach of defenses…" She sighed and shook her head, then kept walking before Alistair could say anything. Not for the first time, he found himself wondering just what kind of lifestyle she'd led. Duncan had mentioned that she was from Highever, but he hadn't said much else. He made a mental note to ask her later.

They went up the stairs to the second floor.

"Maker's breath!" Alistair gasped. He hadn't expected there to be quite so many steps. "What are these darkspawn doing ahead of the rest of the horde? There wasn't supposed to be any resistance here!"

"You could try telling them they're in the wrong place," Elyssa said, giving him a raised eyebrow again. Alistair paused, realizing she'd attempted to make a joke. The first one he'd heard since she'd gotten to camp that morning. Had it only been that morning?

"Right," he countered sarcastically. "Because clearly this is all just a misunderstanding. We'll laugh about this later." Elyssa rolled her eyes at him again. "At any rate, we need to hurry. We need to get up to the top of the tower and light the signal fire in time! Teyrn Loghain will be waiting for the signal!"

As if Elyssa could forget. Her first real fight had ended with her running away and too many people dead. She wasn't running away this time! She'd never be able to forgive herself if she did, with so many people's lives on the line. And so, they pressed on. 

They came to the top of the stairs, and Elyssa froze. A ring of bloody helms stuck on pikes around a fire was the sight that greeted them. This was what the darkspawn did to their victims? Bones were scattered all over the floor, making her wonder how far ahead of the horde these darkspawn had really been. How long had the guards fought on their own before death claimed them? Alistair's hand on her shoulder broke through and made her keep moving. War was a bloody affair, so she remembered from Brother Aldous's teachings. She forced herself not to look at the other bloodied helms on pikes as they moved on. She told herself that they would save more lives by getting to the top of the tower and lighting the beacon. 

But they weren't prepared for what was waiting for them at the top of the tower. An ogre, huge and monstrous, with enormous horns and the same black skin as all other darkspawn. A quick exchange of glances between Elyssa and Alistair, and the two of them ran at the beast. Once it was dead, the mage lit the beacon with a blast of fire from his staff. For the moment, they were safe… 

Until more darkspawn came running in, surrounding them and blocking their exit. Elyssa and Alistair both fought hard, but it was only a matter of time before they both collapsed.


	13. Just a Dream

They both stood in the courtyard, panting hard and grinning. 

"If you can't best me, then maybe it should be me leading the troops to Ostagar instead," Elyssa laughed. "Though darkspawn aren't supposed to be as smart as people are."

"And darkspawn die just like anything else," Fergus reminded her, lifting his shield again. 

"One more round then? Suit yourself," Elyssa said with a grin. She lifted her sword and closed the distance between herself and her brother. The clang of their swords bouncing off each other echoed around the courtyard, drawing the attention of a few servants. Occasionally there was a dull thud when one of their swords bounced off the wooden shields. They sparred like that for a while before separating again. 

"Its nice to know I can hold my own against you now," Elyssa said breathlessly. "Though I can tell you've just gotten stronger still."

"What kind of warrior would I be if I waited for my little sister to surpass me?" Fergus laughed. "Come, we should put our blades away for now. Mother and Father are expecting company."

"Is it the arl?" Elyssa asked. The two of them walked side-by-side toward the weapon store room. "Wasn't he supposed to bring his troops, and you were to accompany him and Father to Ostagar?"

"That is the plan, yes," Fergus confirmed, opening the door. "After you," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, stuff it," Elyssa said with a smirk, though she walked into the room anyway. "I heard Mother invited guests of her own as well?"

"Yes, Lady Landra, Bann Loren's wife. And their son Dairren." Fergus always knew what was going on in the castle. As he was to take over after their father, it was only natural. 

"I haven't seen Dairren since Mother's spring salon," Elyssa remembered. "I think Lady Landra was trying to convince me to marry him…" She laughed at the thought. 

"Why wouldn't you?" Fergus asked as they walked out of the armory. 

"He's a nice enough man," Elyssa began. "But I just don't want to be tied down. And Dairren is their only son, so he'll take over their bannorn when Bann Loren either dies or retires. I don't much care for that life."

"Someday you'll find someone who can handle you," Fergus laughed. "Well, we'd best get cleaned up before the guests arrive. It wouldn't do to greet them looking the way we do now."

"One thing I don't like about sparring with you. I always end up covered in sweat and smelling awful," she agreed with a laugh. "Ah, well. I'll see you later, big brother." She went into her own quarters and noticed there was already a bath waiting for her. After placing her armor on the stand, she slipped gratefully into the warm water. 

She was clean and changed, and she dried her hair with a towel. Good thing she liked keeping her hair short, it dried a lot faster that way. And it didn't drip. Well, much. She noticed that a clean leather armor set had been placed on the stand. One of the servants must have taken the one she'd worn earlier to be cleaned. She put on the clean armor just as someone knocked on her door. 

"Come in," she said as she pulled on the gloves. The door opened, and one of the elven servants was standing in the doorway.

"The teyrn wishes you to join him in the main hall," the elf said quickly.

"Thank you," she told him. He left quickly. What was it with the elves around here? They were always so skittish, as if they expected her to start spitting fire or something. Or was that just how all non-nobility acted around nobles? Oh well. It was time to go meet Father. And his guests. 

And where had her hound gone this time? Hopefully he wasn't in the larder again… Bloody dog.


	14. Flemeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You don't believe Flemeth is real? Do I need to tell you the Tale of the Champion again?

When she came to, Elyssa realized she wasn't in the tower anymore. That much was obvious. She slowly forced herself to sit up, groaning softly against the tension in her muscles. What a nice dream she'd had…

"Ah, your eyes finally open," a woman said. "Mother shall be pleased." The voice was familiar, and Elyssa looked over to see a face that she definitely recognized, but couldn't remember. Then it clicked.

"I remember you," she said quietly. "You're the girl from the Wilds."

"I am Morrigan, lest you have forgotten. And we are in the Wilds, where I am bandaging your wounds." She spoke slowly, almost as if she was afraid Elyssa was unstable. "You are welcome, by the way. How does your memory fare? Do you remember Mother's rescue?" Elyssa looked down for a moment, trying to remember.

"Wait… What happened to the army? To the king?" she asked, blue eyes wide with worry.

"The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field," Morrigan explained slowly. "The darkspawn won your battle. Those he abandoned were massacred. Your friend… he is not taking it well." Elyssa's eyes darkened, once more devoid of emotion. That meant that everyone was dead… King Cailan, Duncan… Fergus… 

"I need to get out of here," she said after a moment, standing and looking around for her armor. 

"As you like," Morrigan said. "Mother is outside with your friend, she wished to see you when you awoke."

"Thank you for helping me, Morrigan," Elyssa said as she began putting her armor back on. The smell of darkspawn blood hit her nose, rancid and old. _I'm going to need to find something strong to clean that off, or that smell will never come out._

"I… You are welcome," Morrigan answered awkwardly. "Though Mother did most of the work, I am no healer." 

"I will go, then," Elyssa said, slipping her feet into the boots and her hands into the gloves. She turned and saw Morrigan with her sword and shield. "Thank you."

"I will stay and make something to eat," Morrigan said as Elyssa made for the door. 

"See? Here is your fellow Grey Warden," Morrigan's mother told Alistair. "You worry too much, young man." Elyssa took note of the way Kenai was standing next to Alistair.

"You… you're alive!" Alistair said to Elyssa, surprised and relieved. "I thought you were dead for sure…"  
"I'm fine," she told him, though her voice seemed more deadpan than it had been even the day they first met. "I appreciate your concern." 

"This doesn't seem real," Alistair sighed. "If it weren't for Morrigan's mother, we'd be dead on top of that tower." 

"Do not talk about me as if I am not present, lad," she scolded him gently. 

"I didn't mean…" he stuttered, turning to her. "But what do we call you? You never told us your name."

"Names are pretty, but useless," the old woman said. "The Chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose it will do." 

"THE Flemeth? From the legends?" Alistair asked, surprised. "Daveth was right. You're the Witch of the Wilds, aren't you?"

"And what does that mean?" the old woman countered. "I know a bit of magic, and it has served you both well, has it not?"

"I suppose we should thank you," Elyssa said, making a small effort to put a bit of emotion in her voice. The dream, coupled with the news Morrigan had delivered, had set her back to where she'd been right after the attack on Highever Castle.

"If you know what's good for you, I suppose you should!" Flemeth said with a laugh. Elyssa looked at Alistair this time.

"We need to stop this Blight somehow," she said to him.

"We need to bring Loghain to judgment!" Alistair protested. "Why would he do this?"

"Now that is a good question," Flemeth spoke up. Elyssa silently agreed with her. "Men's hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature. Perhaps he believes the Blight is an army he can outmaneuver. Perhaps he does not see that the evil behind it is the true threat."

"The archdemon," Alistair agreed. 

"We should contact the rest of the Grey Wardens," Elyssa suggested. 

"Cailan already summoned them," Alistair reminded her. "They'll come if they can, but I expect Loghain has already taken steps to stop them. We must assume they won't arrive in time." 

"What is this archdemon, exactly?" Elyssa asked. Duncan had mentioned it before, but nobody had bothered explaining it to her.

"It is said that, long ago, the Maker sent the Old Gods f the ancient Tevinter Imperium to slumber in prisons deep beneath the surface," Flemeth explained. "An archdemon is an Old God awakened and tainted by darkspawn. Believe that or not, hostory says it's a fearsome and immortal thing. And only fools ignore history."

"Then we need to find this archdemon," Elyssa decided. She was a Grey Warden now. Her first duty was to the Blight. Once the archdemon was dead, then she would work on taking back Highever. 

"By ourselves?" Alistair sighed. "No Grey Warden has ever defeated a Blight without the army of a half-dozen nations at his back. Not to mention, I don't know how."

"How to kill the archdemon, or how to rise an army?" Flemeth asked. "It seems to me like those are two very different questions, hmm? Have the Wardens no allies these days?"

"I… I don't know," Alistair stuttered. "Duncan said the Grey Wardens of Orlais had been called. And Arl Eamon would never stand for this, surely." 

"You think the arl would believe us over the teyrn?" Elyssa asked, skeptical. True, she was the daughter of a teyrn herself, but Arl Eamon and Teyrn Loghain had been friends for many years. Of course, that didn’t always mean much anymore. Arl Howe had been her father's friend since their battle against the Orlesians.

"I suppose…" Alistair said thoughtfully. "Arl Eamon wasn't at Ostagar, he still has all his men. And he was Cailan's uncle. I know him! He's a good man, respected in the Landsmeet." The look in his eyes changed. "Of course! We could go to Redcliffe and appeal to him for help!" Elyssa found herself feeling better seeing the renewed enthusiasm on Alistair's face.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," she agreed. Arl Eamon, from what she remembered, was an honorable man who treated his subjects fairly. And, as Alistair had mentioned, he was Cailan's uncle. He had a more personal stake in this too.

"Such determination," Flemeth laughed. "How intriguing." 

"I still don't know if Arl Eamon's help will be enough," Alistair admitted. "He can't defeat the darkspawn horde by himself!"

"Surely there are other allies we could call on," Elyssa suggested, feeling almost hopeful again. 

"Of course! The treaties!" Alistair looked all fired up again. It was good, he looked better like that. "Grey Wardens can demand aid from dwarves, elves, mages, and other places! They're obligated to help us during a Blight!"

"I may be old, but dwarves, elves, mages, this Arl Eamon, and who knows what else… that sounds like an army to me," Flemeth told them. 

"So, can we do this?" Alistair asked Elyssa. "Go to Redcliffe and the other places and… build an army?"

"Why not?" Elyssa countered. "Isn't that what Grey Wardens do?" 

"So you are set then?" Flemeth asked. "Ready to be Grey Wardens?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Elyssa said with a sigh. 

"Now… before you go, there is one more thing I can offer you," the old woman said. 

"The stew is bubbling Mother," Morrigan said, emerging from the hut. "Shall we have two guests for the eve, or none?" 

"The Grey Wardens are leaving shortly, girl, and you will be joining them."

"Such a shame-- What?" Morrigan snapped.

"You heard me, girl. Last time I looked, you had ears!" Flemeth laughed. As odd as this display was, Elyssa found herself missing her own mother.

"Thank you, but if Morrigan doesn't wish to join us…" she said hesitantly. 

"Her magic will be useful," Flemeth informed them. "Even better, she knows the Wilds and how to get past the horde."

"Have I no say in this?" Morrigan demanded. 

"You have been itching to get out of the Wilds for years," Flemeth continued. "Here is your chance. As for you, Wardens, consider this repayment for your lives." 

"Very well, we'll take her with us," Elyssa conceded. No point in making a mage angry, much less a mage who was living away from the Chantry. 

"Not to… look a gift horse in the mouth, but won't this add to our problems?" Alistair asked. "Out of the Wilds, she's an apostate."

"If you do not wish help from us illegal mages, young man, perhaps I should have left you up on that tower," Flemeth countered. 

"Point taken," Alistair sighed. 

"Mother, this is not how I wanted this," Morrigan said slowly. "I am not even ready--"

"You must be ready," Flemeth interrupted. "Alone, these two must unite Ferelden against the darkspawn. They need you Morrigan. Without you, they will surely fail, and all will perish under the Blight. Even I."

_Hey, give us a little credit,_ Elyssa protested silently. 

"I… understand," Morrigan finally conceded. 

"And you, Wardens? Do you understand?" Flemeth asked. "I give you that which I value above all in this world. I do this because you **must** succeed." 

"I understand," Elyssa said.

"Allow me to get my things, if you please," Morrigan said, sounding annoyed still. She turned around and went back into the hut, re-emerging a few minutes later. 

"I am at your disposal, Grey Wardens," she said as she came back outside. "I suggest a village north of the Wilds as our first destination. Tis not far and you will find much you need there." A glance at Alistair prompted her next remark. "Or, if you prefer, I shall simply be your silent guide. The choice is yours."

"I have no problems with your presence, if Alistair doesn't," Elyssa said, her voice returning to the deadpan tone it had before. 

"From the way he glares, I imagine the answer is clear," Morrigan said, raising an eyebrow. 

"I just… Do you really want to take her along because her mother says so?" Alistair asked, looking at Elyssa.

"We need all the help we can get," she reminded him. 

"I guess you're right," he admitted. "Grey Wardens have always taken allies where they could find them."

"I am so pleased to have your approval," Morrigan said snidely. Elyssa sighed. This was going to be a long trip, if it was just the three of them and her hound. She'd been glad to see that Flemeth had rescued Kenai as well. 

"I think we should just get underway," she interjected quickly before Alistair could make another comment. She took the chance to give Alistair a very pointed look, which silenced him. For the moment, at least.

"Farewell Mother," Morrigan said, turning to Flemeth. "Do not forget the stew on the fire. I would hate to return to a burned down hut."

"Bah. Tis far more likely you will return t see this entire area, along with my hut, swallowed up by the Blight," Flemeth scoffed.

"I… All I meant was…"

"Yes, I know," Flemeth interrupted, her voice soft and kind. That alone caught Elyssa off-guard, for she wasn't used to hearing Flemeth speak like that. "Do try to have fun, dear." With that, the four of them were off.


	15. Lothering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask the Spymaster about this, she doesn't like talking about it since the Hero Of Ferelden disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an extra chapter today! It's my birthday, so I'm feeling extra nice. :)

The Imperial Highway wasn't hard to find, once they got out of the Wilds. They followed the road in the direction of Lothering. At the edge of Lothering, they were greeted by what appeared to be a group of thugs who had blocked the road. 

"Wake up, gentlemen, more travelers to attend to!" called one of the men. "I'd guess the pretty one is the leader." 

_Of course the first thing they notice is how I look. Not that I'm armed._ Elyssa had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. 

"Err… they don't look much like them others, you know," one of the men said slowly. He seemed rather dumb, judging by the way he was talking. But a person didn't have to be smart in order to swing a sword around. "Uh… Maybe we should just let these ones pass…"

"Nonsense," the first man said quickly. "Greetings travelers!"

"Highwaymen," Alistair muttered. "Preying on those fleeing the darkspawn, I suppose." 

"They are fools to get in our way," Morrigan said. Elyssa silently agreed with her. "I say teach them a lesson."

"Now is that any way to greet someone?" the first man asked. "A simple ten silvers and you're free to move on."

"You should listen to your friend," Elyssa said with narrowed eyes. "We're not refugees."

"What did I tell you?" asked the dumb one, still speaking slowly. "No wagons, and this one looks armed." 

_Not half as dumb as he looks,_ Elyssa told herself silently. 

"The toll applies to everyone, Hanric," the leader man said. "That's why it’s a toll, and not, say, a refugee tax."

"Oh, right," said the one called Hanric. "Even if you're no refugee, you still gotta pay."

"Forget it, I'm not paying," Elyssa scoffed. She wasn't in the mood to be messed with, and Alistair and Morrigan had figured that out on the way up here. 

"Well, I can't say I'm pleased to hear that," the leader spoke again. "We have rules, you see."

"Right. We get to ransack your corpse then," Hanric added. "Those're the rules." 

"You can certainly try," Elyssa said, reaching for her blade.

"Well, this is going nowhere," the leader said with a sigh. "Let's finish this gents." Elyssa and Alistair drew their blades, while Morrigan took a few steps back and prepped her staff. The fight was too easy, and over in moments.

"All right! We surrender!" the leader cried out. Elyssa rolled her eyes. Were all men such weaklings? "We… we-we're just trying to get by, before the darkspawn get us all!" 

"You picked the wrong target," Elyssa snarled, eyes burning. Kenai, at her side as usual, growled at the man. 

"Yes! Yes! Of course… We should have been more careful," the man stuttered, his voice cracking. It was almost embarrassing, talking to him. 

"Hand over everything you've stolen," she demanded from them. 

"Yes! Yes, of course!" the man stuttered, pulling out a bag that jingled with the sheer number of coins in it. "The coins we've collected are right here, just over a hundred silvers. The rest is in the chests we brought! I swear!" He was obviously scared of her now, and for good reason. She held his fate in her hands.

"Now you die," Elyssa snapped. "That's all you deserve."

"I'm not going down without a fight!" the man insisted. Elyssa scoffed and drew her blade again. They hadn't been hard to beat the first time, this time was going to be even easier. After the men were dead, Elyssa noticed a body that wasn't armored the way the rest of them were. It looked like templar armor, with the flaming sword stamped onto the breastplate. There was a note on the body, and she skimmed over it quickly. The note mentioned something called the Urn of Sacred Ashes, and a few names. Brother Genitivi was one she recognized immediately, there had been a number of books in the castle library by him. At the end of the note was a last request. To tell a man, Ser Donall, about his fate. 

"Signed by Ser Henric of Redcliffe…" Elyssa read out loud. "Someone's waiting for him in Lothering. Well, let's see if we can track down this Ser Donall." She stood again and checked through the rest of the things the highwaymen had taken from their victims. 

"Well, there it is. Lothering. Pretty as a painting," Alistair said as they looked out over the village. 

"Ah, so you have finally decided to rejoin us, have you?" Morrigan asked, in her usual snarky attitude. "Falling on your blade in grief seemed like too much trouble, I take it?" 

"Is my being upset so hard to understand?" Alistair challenged. "Have you never lost someone important to you? What would you do if your mother died?" Elyssa felt her heart clench, and found herself looking away from them both. Thankfully, neither seemed to notice.

"Before or after I stopped laughing?" Morrigan countered.

"Right, very creepy, forget I asked," Alistair sighed. 

"What did you want to talk about, Alistair?" Elyssa said quickly before Morrigan could speak again. It didn't work.

"His naval, I suspect," the apostate said sarcastically. "He's certainly been contemplating it for long enough."

"Oh, I get it," Alistair spoke up. "This is the part where we're shocked to discover how you've never had a friend your entire life." Elyssa opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off.

"I can be friendly when I desire to," Morrigan said indignantly. "Alas, desiring to be more intelligent does not make it so."

"Anyway, I thought we should talk abut where we intend to go, first," Alistair said, turning to look at Elyssa, who sighed.

"As much as I want to search for my brother, if he got away from Ostagar, he'll probably be heading somewhere north to get away from the horde," she said thoughtfully, turning to look out at Lothering for a moment, before reaching for the treaties she somehow still had on her belt. "We should try to use these treaties, I assume." She had purposely avoided naming her brother, as she hadn't told Alistair or Morrigan about how she came to be a Warden yet.

"I agree. Have you looked at them?" he asked.

"No, not yet," Elyssa admitted, wishing she had taken the time to do so. She was a Grey Warden, and it was time to start acting like one. At least her voice didn't sound quite so dead anymore.

"There are three main groups we have treaties for," Alistair began to explain. Morrigan crossed her arms, but kept silent. "The Dalish elves, the dwarves of Orzammar, and the Circle of Magi. I also still think that Arl Eamon is our best bet for help. We might even want to go to him first." Elyssa pulled out her map and unrolled it, looking it over. 

"Is there a way to contact the rest of the Grey Wardens?" she asked, glancing up at Alistair from the map. 

"Short of leaving Ferelden to seek them out, the only place to send word to would be Weisshaupt Fortress, and that's thousands of miles away," Alistair reminded her. Elyssa nodded. Weisshaupt was the main Warden headquarters, in the Anderfels, to the far north. So, not a good option. Ferelden would be gone by the time they got to Weisshaupt, and all of southern Thedas could fall before they got back.

"Then we need to find these people in the treaties," she decided.

"I can give you directions, if you like," Alistair offered. 

"Well, Redcliffe isn't all that far from here, and the Circle Tower is in the middle of Lake Calenhad," Elyssa remembered. "Orzammar is somewhere in the Frostback Mountains… But where would the Dalish be?" 

"If we head eastward, toward the Brecilian Forest, we should hear word of one of the clans that wanders the area," Alistair suggested. "Hopefully they will still be there." Elyssa made a few marks on the map before rolling it up. 

"That's all the directions I need," she told Alistair.

"Then you have a plan?" he asked. Elyssa nodded. "Fair enough. Let's head into the village whenever you're ready." And so, off they went.

"Move on if you can, Lothering's lost," said a Templar that Elyssa stopped to speak to. 

"What do you mean?" she asked, curious. What could make even the village's protectors consider the village gone?

"We've had refugees streaming from the south for the last two days," the templar explained. "The chantry and tavern are full to bursting. There simply isn't enough food to go around, and we templars can barely keep order. You'd be better off elsewhere, my friend. 

"Thank you for the warning," Elyssa said politely. 

"Best of luck wherever you might go," the templar said before the group walked off. Elyssa was stopped by a family of elves who had also been attacked by the bandits outside the village. Upon telling them the bandits were dead, the elves left to search for their belongings. Hopefully they would flee Lothering before the darkspawn got here. She decided to stop by the tavern to get some news, but that was perhaps not the wisest of ideas.

"Well, look what we have here men," said a soldier as the tavern door closed behind Elyssa. "I think we've just been blessed." Her eyes narrowed, and she heard Kenai's low growl. 

"Uh-oh," Alistair muttered, echoing Elyssa's thoughts. "Loghain's men. This can't be good."

_No, they're just going to throw us a party or something,_ Elyssa snarked silently, biting her tongue to keep her from saying it aloud. 

"Didn't we spend all morning asking about a woman by this very description?" another armored man asked. "And everyone said they hadn't seen her?"

_Well, we did only just get here,_ Elyssa was tempted to tell him. But she kept her mouth shut again. 

"It seems we were lied to," said the first man darkly. A woman in chantry robes came over. Her hair was bright red, and her eyes were a pale blue color. 

"Gentlemen, surely, there is no need for trouble," she said gently. "These are no doubt simply more poor souls seeking refuge."

"They are more than that!" the first soldier declared. "Now stay out of our way, Sister. You protect these traitors, and you'll get the same as them." Elyssa's eyes hardened, and she put her hand on her sword's hilt. 

"It looks like he wants a fight," she hissed. "I'm happy to oblige."

"Right, let's make this quick," said the second man. Weapons were drawn, and Elyssa felt rather than saw Morrigan step back, readying her magic. 

"Alright! You've won! We surrender!" the commanding officer declared. 

"Good," the chantry woman said. "They've learned their lesson, and we can all stop fighting now." Elyssa turned her glare on the woman for a moment before taking a breath. As much as she wanted these men dead, men who worked for the traitorous bastard that had retreated and killed not just the king but the other Wardens as well… As much as she wanted them dead, they were not responsible for what Loghain had ordered them to do. How many lives were ruined by good men following bad orders? 

"Take a message to Loghain," Elyssa snapped at the commanding soldier. She noticed Alistair giving her an odd look out of the corner of her eye, but he said nothing. 

"W-what do you want to tell him?" the commander asked hesitantly.

"He'll pay for what he's done," Elyssa said coldly. "We are coming for him."

"I'll tell him! Right away. Now. Thank you!" the man muttered before running out of the tavern. 

"I apologize for interfering, but I couldn't just sit by and not help," the chantry woman said after the remaining soldiers were gone.

"And who are you, anyhow?" Elyssa asked, trying to tone down the harshness of her voice.

"I am Leliana, one of the lay sisters of the chantry here in Lothering. Or I was," the red-head spoke. 

"And is there something you wanted from me?" Elyssa wasn't quite in the mood for pleasantries right now. 

"Those men said you are a Grey Warden," the woman said. "Grey Wardens do battle with the darkspawn, yes? I know after what happened, you'll need all the help you can get. That's why I'm coming along." Elyssa groaned inwardly, noticing how many people turned their heads at the mention of the Wardens. 

"These men were mistaken," Elyssa said, probably louder than she needed to. "I am no Grey Warden." She knew there was going to be a bounty on her head, and Alistair's, since Loghain knew they were alive. Better to keep a low profile until they had to make themselves known.

"But… Oh, I see," Leliana said, catching on. "Shall we move on, my completely ordinary and unremarkable friend?"

"Why do you even want to follow me?" Elyssa asked, raising an eyebrow. After what she'd gone through to get to this point, there was no way she was going to take anything anyone said at face value. 

"The Maker told me to," Leliana said simply. 

"Can you… elaborate?"

"I-I know that sounds… absolutely insane--but it's true! I had a dream… a vision!" the woman insisted. 

"More crazy?" Alistair muttered. "I thought we were all full up." Elyssa rolled her eyes at him. 

"Look at the people here. They are lost in their despair, and this darkness, this chaos… will spread. The Maker doesn't want that," Leliana continued. "What you do, what you are **meant** to do, is the Maker's work. Let me help!" 

"You feel sorry for the people?" Elyssa asked, her voice somewhat dark. "Help them here." 

"Then what?" Leliana countered. "What happens when the horde comes? It will follow anywhere we flee, until all we know is destroyed." Well, she did have a point. 

"Then join me, if you would fight them," Elyssa said, finally giving in. 

"Perhaps your skull was cracked worse than Mother thought," Morrigan muttered. Elyssa rolled her eyes again. She was going to have to get used to this.

"Thank you!" Leliana said with a smile. "I appreciate being given this chance. I will not let you down!" With that, they left the tavern. It was clear the templar had spoken the truth, there was no room at the tavern, and there would probably be no room at the Chantry. But they still needed to find that Ser Donnel mentioned in Ser Henric's note.


	16. Sten of the Beresaad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've actually met this particular Qunari before, but he's not a Sten anymore. Since the Arishok was killed by the Champion, this particular Qunari took his place.

After making sure Leliana was properly armed and armored, the group began to go toward the edge of town, where a cage was hanging. There was a large man in the cage, with dark skin and white hair. He was taller even than Alistair.

"You aren't one of my captors," the man said when he noticed Elyssa looking at him. "I will not amuse you any more than I have the other humans. Leave me in peace."

"What are you?" Elyssa asked, having caught his use of the word human as if he wasn't one.

"A prisoner," the man said smartly. Great. Were all of southern Ferelden's people like this? "I'm in a cage, am I not? I've been placed here by the Chantry."

"The revered mother said he slaughtered an entire family," Leliana informed them. "Even the children."

"It is as she says," the man agreed. "I am Sten of the Beresaad--the vanguard--of the qunari peoples."

"I am Elyssa. Pleased to meet you," she said with a slight nod of her head. Now that she'd calmed down a bit from the fight in the tavern, she was more personable. And, she realized, that was the first time Leliana had heard her name.

"You mock me," Sten said, sounding surprised. "Or you show manners I have not come to expect in your lands." He paused. "Though it matters little now. I will die soon enough."

"This is a proud and powerful creature, trapped as prey for the darkspawn," Morrigan spoke up. "If you cannot see a use for him, I suggest releasing him for mercy's sake alone." Elyssa raised an eyebrow.

"Mercy?" Alistair echoed. "I wouldn't have expected that from you."

"I would also suggest Alistair take his place in the cage," Morrigan added. 

"Yes, **that's** what I would have expected," Alistair said. Elyssa rolled her eyes again. It was like living with a bunch of young children.

"I suggest you leave me to my fate," Sten said.

"I find myself in need of skilled help," Elyssa told the prisoner.

"No doubt," he said. "What help do you seek?"

"I am sworn to defend the land against the Blight," she said to him, too softly for anyone not in the immediate area to hear.

"The Blight?" he echoed. "Are you a Grey Warden then?"

"Yes, I am." Denying it would just make him question her. And if she was to get him on her side, he would have to at least trust her enough to follow her into battle.

"Surprising," he admitted. "My people have heard legends of the Grey Wardens' strength and skill… though I suppose not every legend is true."

"Would the revered mother let you free?" Elyssa asked.

"Perhaps if you told her the Grey Wardens need my assistance," he suggested. "It seems as likely to bring my death as waiting here."

"I'll leave you for now," Elyssa said, thinking about how to approach the revered mother. 

"To be left here to starve, or to be taken by the darkspawn… no one deserves that, not even a murderer," Leliana muttered as they started walking back into the village. There was a Chasined man raving in the chantry courtyard, and after persuading him to be quiet and convincing the people who had gathered around him to go further north, they went into the Chantry. A Templar outside the door said something in greeting to Leliana as they went inside. The chantry was full of people, mostly refugees. Again, that templar at the village gate had been right. No room anywhere. Why didn't people just move north?

"There's word of darkspawn stragglers, but no sign of the main horde," Elyssa overheard a templar saying. "We are the only hope of protection this village has now, and I will not abandon them." At least he wasn't like the others. The Bann had taken his men north with Loghain, apparently. The templars dispersed, and Elyssa took that moment to walk up to the one who had been talking. 

"Yes, my lady? Who might you be?" he asked as she walked up.

"You can call me Elyssa," she said to him. She was still expecting to see a flash of recognition one of these times when she introduced herself to someone, but it hadn't happened yet. 

"I am Ser Bryant, commander of Lothering's remaining templars," he said to her. "You don't seem like the other refugees. Are you one of Arl Eamon's knights?"

"Do many of his knights come here?" Elyssa asked, in an attempt to divert the conversation from herself. It wouldn't do for the templars to discover that she was a Grey Warden, not when Loghain had already come through the village.

"Some have, in recent days," Ser Bryant responded. "Arl Eamon has fallen ill, and his knights are on a quest for the sacred urn filled with Andraste's ashes, said to cure any malady." That explained the note she'd found on Ser Henric's body. "He must be very ill if they chase miracles as the only cure." He sighed, then continued. "One of the arl's knights, Ser Donall, is here searching for fantasies while… Never mind. Ask him if you care about this foolishness." His voice had turned bitter at the mention of Ser Donall, but Elyssa had recognized the name from Ser Henric's note. That was the person Ser Henric was supposed to meet.

"Things seem very dire in the village," Elyssa observed. 

"They are," Ser Bryant agreed. "With the bann having taken his men north, the village is left to its fate." That had been what Elyssa had already figured out. Not surprising, really. The banns didn't have as many men as the arls or teyrns did. "We will evacuate as many as we can before the horde reaches us. I will stay as long as I am needed." Well. A soldier who knew where he was needed most. That was something good to see in these dark days. "Now, unless there's something else you need…?" Elyssa shook her head.

"I should go," she said politely.

"Travel safely, and may the Maker watch over you," Ser Bryant said. 

_May he watch over us all…_ Elyssa echoed silently, vaguely remembering that those were the last words she heard Duncan say. But they needed to talk to the revered mother, so they continued on through the chantry, toward where Leliana said the revered mother would be.

"Good day, Sister Leliana," the revered mother said when the group walked in. "I am surprised to see you're still in Lothering."

"It is good to see you as well, your Reverence," Leliana responded. 

"I do not recognize your companion. Greetings. Will you be making a donation to the chantry? Our need has never been greater." Well, that was an understatement. 

"What tithe is acceptable?" Elyssa asked. After handing over thirty silver, the conversation continued. "I want to talk about Sten, the qunari you imprisoned." The revered mother stood.

"It might have been kinder to execute him, but I leave his fate to the Maker," the revered mother said. "Why does he interest you?"

"Is there any way I can convince you to release him?" Elyssa asked.

"Then his next victims might count you and me as their murderers." Well, that was a bit off… 

"I was thinking you might release him into my custody," Elyssa tried again.

"And what do you say on this Leliana? You know your friend better than I."

"These are… unusual times, your Reverence," Leliana said, choosing her words carefully. "With us, the qunari might do some good. I am sure of it, in fact." 

"Were things not so desperate… very well," the revered mother conceded. "I trust you. Take these keys to his cage, and Maker watch over you." Elyssa nodded in thanks and walked out. 

There was a man that caught her attention in the main hall, though. The shield on his back bore the symbol of the Redcliffe knights. He turned when they stopped behind him.

"I beg your pardon, I did not see you approach," he said politely. 

"Ser Donall? Is that you?" Alistair asked, a small grin on his face.

"Alistair? By the Maker, how are you? I… I was certain you were dead!" Ser Donall responded, also smiling now. 

"Not yet, no thanks to Teyrn Loghain," Alistair admitted darkly. 

"If Arl Eamon were well, he'd set Loghain straight soon enough," Ser Donall tried to assure them. 

"So you're here looking for the Urn of Sacred Ashes then?" Alistair asked. Elyssa remembered Ser Bryant mentioning that. 

"I am indeed," Ser Donall agreed. "Andraste's ashes are said to cure any illness. But I fear we are chasing a gable. With each day, my hope dims."

"I was hoping to meet Arl Eamon, in fact," Elyssa admitted after a moment. Just how much should she reveal to this man? 

"Why is that, if I may ask?" He was guarded. Good. That meant he would be careful.

"We need his help against Teyrn Loghain," Elyssa admitted. 

"I see." That was the only response they got, for a moment. "The arl is a popular man, it's true. Teyrn Loghain, however, is a hero throughout Ferelden." 

_Most heroes change after thirty years,_ Elyssa found herself thinking darkly. Arl Howe was proof of that.

"Whatever the teyrn has done or not done, the arl remains ill, or worse," Ser Donall continued. "That is my primary concern."

A thought struck Elyssa then. "Do you think Loghain is involved with the arl's illness?" she asked slowly.

"The arl fell ill before the king died," Ser Donall reminded them. "But what if Loghain planned that too? Ah, such thoughts do not sit well with me." 

"We should see what's happening in Redcliffe ourselves," Alistair commented. "I believe that now more than ever." Elyssa agreed. 

"If nothing else, I am certain you would be welcomed at Castle Redcliffe," Ser Donall continued again. "The arlessa is there, and she could tell you more than I could."

Elyssa reached into her bag and pulled out the note. "Your friend Ser Henric is dead," she said solemnly. "I have something of his." She held out the note, and the locket that she'd taken as well. 

"What?!" Ser Donall said slowly. "And you have his locket? And a note?" He took both and read the note quickly. "Maker's mercy," he sighed. "Thank you for giving me these, I would never have known otherwise." 

"I dealt with the bandits that killed him," she told him. Maybe that would help. Not much usually did, of course. 

"Thank you," Ser Donall said genuinely. "I wonder how many of us have met similar fates on this mad quest…"

"I should go," Elyssa said politely. 

"With Henric gone, I need to return to Redcliffe," Ser Donall began. "Perhaps later I will seek out the scholar his note mentions. But I must go. Thank you again, my lady. You have been most helpful." At his use of the title _my lady_ , Elyssa's heart clenched again. That was just another reminder of all she had lost. She watched as he walked away, and then they left as well. It was time to get the qunari out of his cage.

"And so it is done," Sten said when Elyssa unlocked and opened the cage. "I will follow you into battle. In doing so I shall find my atonement."

"Thank you, Sten," Elyssa said, getting the closest to a smile since the disaster at Ostagar. "Glad to have you with us."

"May we proceed?" he asked. "I am eager to be elsewhere."

_That makes two of us._ Elyssa sighed. "Alright, meet us at the road, we'll make camp well away from here tonight." Sten nodded and began walking. "Oh, wait… Here, you need a weapon, just in case," she said, handing him a sword and shield. "It'll have to do until we can find one that better fits you. We should have some spare armor that you can use too." He just nodded and walked off. 

At the road were a pair of dwarves getting attacked by darkspawn, so the group helped get rid of the darkspawn before going on their way. The dwarf, Bodahn Feddic, claimed to be a merchant traveling with his son, and had suggested for a moment that they could travel together, but reconsidered that stance when Elyssa admitted that she was a Grey Warden. So they parted ways.


	17. Nightmare

_Everything had an odd green haze to it. In the trench were hundreds upon hundreds of torchlights, each one representing at least two darkspawn. That alone was terrifying, but combine that with the beast that stood on the stone bridge, made the scene even more terrible. The beast looked like it had been a dragon once, but it was now corrupted and black, with unnatural yellow eyes. It opened its maw, revealing black fangs and tongue, even the flesh inside its cheeks was black. Fire spewed from its mouth, unnaturally colored flames that broke through the green haze. As everything started to fade, the beast's unnatural eye was the last thing Elyssa saw before everything went black._

She woke with a start and a gasp, breathing hard after the nightmare. She sat up slowly, trying to catch her breath. 

"Bad dreams, huh?" Alistair asked from where he sat by the fire.

"It seemed so real…" Elyssa breathed, and Alistair was surprised to see that she seemed more vulnerable at the moment. Of course, who wouldn't be after having that kind of nightmare? 

"Well, it is real, sort of," Alistair began, as Elyssa tried to shake off the nightmare. "You see, part of being a Grey Warden is being able to hear the darkspawn. That's what your dream was. Hearing them." He paused, and she looked up at him. "The archdemon, it… _talks_ to the horde, and we feel it just as they do. That's why we know this is really a Blight.

"The archdemon?" Elyssa echoed, remembering vaguely that the archdemon was the beast they needed to kill. "Is that the dragon?"

"I don't know if it's really a dragon, but it sure looks like one," Alistair admitted. "But, yes, that's the archdemon." He gave her a sympathetic look, remembering his own early weeks as a Warden. "It takes a bit, but eventually you can block the dreams out. Some of the older Grey Wardens say they can understand the archdemon a bit, but I sure can't. Anyhow, when I heard you thrashing around, I thought I should tell you. It was scary at first for me too." 

Elyssa was tempted to deny being afraid, to say that she'd seen worse, but that would be a lie. That black, corrupted dragon was the most terrifying thing she'd ever seen. It was even worse than realizing they'd been betrayed. 

"Thank you, Alistair," she said eventually. "I appreciate it." 

"That's what I'm here for, to deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners," he joked, and Elyssa's face relaxed. The corners of her mouth turned up a bit, an almost-smile directed at him, drawn out by his words, and it distracted him for a moment. He felt his cheeks redden, and he stood. "Anyhow, you're up now, right? It's almost your guard shift." Elyssa sat there for a while, staring into the fire, trying to erase the image of the archdemon's corrupted eye from her mind. 

After a while, Elyssa stopped next to Alistair. "What do you need?" he asked her.

"Do you want to talk about Duncan?" Elyssa asked hesitantly. She had wanted to talk to Alistair about the man who had saved her life, in more ways than one, but there hadn't been a moment until now. 

"You don't have to do that," he said quickly. "I know you didn't know him as long as I did." There was an odd look in his eyes.

"That doesn't mean I don't mourn his loss," Elyssa said sadly, looking up at Alistair. "He saved me too, you know. In more ways than one."

"I… Should've handled it better," Alistair admitted after a moment. "Duncan warned me right from the beginning that this could happen. Any of us could die in battle. I shouldn't have lost it, not when so much is riding on us. Not with the Blight and… and everything. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," Elyssa said, averting her eyes. She sighed softly.

"I'd… like to have a proper funeral for him," Alistair continued. "Maybe once this is all done, if we're still alive. I don't think he had any family to speak of." The talk of funerals was making Elyssa start to tear up again. She squeezed her eyes shut as the world around her started going fuzzy.

"He had you," she said after a moment. Alistair looked down at her, worried. This was not how he was used to seeing her.

"I suppose he did," Alistair agreed softly. "It probably sounds stupid, but part of me wishes I was with him. In the battle. I feel like I abandoned him." Elyssa had to fight hard to keep the tears from falling at that point. That was exactly how she'd felt after the attack on Highever Castle. She abandoned her parents to save herself, ran away with Duncan to Ostagar, and now the fate of the world hung on her shoulders… How so much could change in so little time. 

"No… I understand completely," she admitted quietly, speaking slowly to try to keep her voice even past the lump in her throat.

"Of course, I'd be dead then, wouldn't I? It's not like that would make him happier," Alistair realized. Elyssa knew that was exactly how her parents would feel if she'd stayed behind. Now, she could get vengeance on that traitorous snake Rendon Howe for their deaths. "I think he came from Highever, or so he said," Alistair continued. "Maybe I'll go up out there sometime, see about putting something up in his honor, I don't know." That was it. Elyssa felt the first tears fall down her cheeks at the mention of her home. "Have you… had someone close to you die? Not that I mean to pry, I just…" His voice fell silent at the realization that she was crying, and he was clueless as to what to do. 

"My full name…" she muttered through the tears. 

"Your… What?" Alistair asked, confused.

"My full name…" she said again. "Is Elyssa Cousland." Alistair's eyes widened. It all made sense now. She was the last Cousland… That explained her behavior at Ostagar too. "My entire family was murdered…"

"Here I am going on and on about Duncan, and you… I'm so sorry…" he muttered, reaching out to her. He hesitated, and pulled his hand back. Then, overcoming his hesitation, he pulled her into an embrace as she cried. 

"Duncan… He saved me, that day…" she confessed after a minute. "He dragged me away, through the servant's entrance… I abandoned my parents… They died while I ran…" 

Alistair realized that she knew exactly how he felt. He felt that he'd abandoned Duncan, and she felt like she'd abandoned her parents. If they had done what they wanted to, they'd have died, and the fate of Ferelden would be in someone else's hands. His embrace tightened slightly around her, and he simply held her while she cried.

"Sorry…" she said when he released her, as she wiped at her face with her hands. 

"Don't be," he said to her. "We both have our burdens to bear. And It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who remembers Duncan well." A small smile came to his face, and Elyssa nodded. Her face was red and blotchy from crying, her nose was running, and her eyes were pink and puffy, but she still seemed to look better than Alistair had seen her yet. There was relief in her eyes. Relief to have finally told someone else what she'd gone through, to not be carrying her burden on her own anymore. And she actually smiled at him, a genuine smile that he hadn't seen from her yet. She turned away and ducked into her tent, and Alistair was still standing where he had been left, surprised by the way her smile made her face light up. 

It was still dark when she emerged again, not an hour later. Most everyone else was still asleep, but the two of them found they couldn't get back to sleep after that shared nightmare. Alistair had since changed into a dry tunic. Neither of them were wearing their armor here, they didn't need to. Morrigan had put up magical barriers as they made camp, so they were protected while they slept.

"So, you said this Arl Eamon raised you?" Elyssa asked after a while. She was currently on her knees, stoking the campfire. The redness in her face and eyes had faded, and the glow from the fire seemed to bring a new kind of light to her features.

"Did I say that? I meant that dogs raised me. Giant, slobbering dogs from the Anderfels. A whole pack of them, in fact," Alistair joked. Elyssa looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That must have been tough for them," she countered, a relaxed look on her face. 

"Well, they were flying dogs, you see," Alistair continued, grinning slightly. "Surprisingly strict parents, too, and devout Andrastians, to boot." Elyssa found that, tonight, she didn't mind Alistair's jokes. In fact, it was relaxing to be around him. She was glad that she confessed the truth about herself to him. 

"That is what they say about the Anders," she agreed, catching his eye as he looked at her. 

"That, and that they make a great deal of cheese," Alistair added. "Funny, but the dogs never mentioned cheese. As a matter of fact, if you said cheese around them, they'd start growling. Isn't that odd?" A pause, and the smile on his face became somewhat strained. "Or did I dream all of that? Funny, the dreams you have when you sleep on the cold, hard ground, isn't it? Are you having strange dreams?"

Elyssa's face fell. She'd really only had one kind of dream since her Joining, and she wasn't about to tell him about the one she'd had while in Flemeth's hut. "Only ones where the world is threatened by darkspawn," she muttered softly. 

"Mm… Point taken," Alistair said quickly. "Let's see, how do I explain this…? I'm a bastard. And before you make any smart comments, I mean the fatherless kind." His admission caught Elyssa's attention again, and she looked up at him. "My mother was a serving girl in Redcliffe Castle who died when I was very young. Arl Eamon wasn't my father, but he took me in anyhow and put a roof over my head." Alistair was gazing into the fire as it licked at the wood. "He was good to me, and he didn't have to be. I respect the man and I don't blame him any more for sending me off to the Chantry once I was old enough." 

"Why did he send you off to the Chantry?" Elyssa asked hesitantly. She was curious, but wary of prying too much. 

"Arl Eamon eventually married a young woman from Orlais, which caused all sorts of problems between him and the king because it was so soon after the war," Alistair explained, still watching the flames. "But he loved her." 

_That's almost like Fergus and Oriana…_ Elyssa realized. There was a lot about Alistair that she could relate to. Alistair's attention shifted, and he quickly pulled the stick out of Elyssa's hand and tossed it into the fire. 

"The fire was getting a bit too close to your hand," he explained. Elyssa's face reddened slightly. She hadn't even noticed the stick burning as he talked. 

"Thank you," she said, looking back at the fire. 

"Anyhow, the new arlessa resented the rumors which pegged me as his bastard," he continued. "They weren't true, but of course they existed. The arl didn't care, but she did." Elyssa heard him sigh, and she glanced up at him again. "So off I was packed to the monastery at age ten. Just as well. The arlessa made sure the castle wasn't a home to me by that point. She despised me." 

Elyssa turned away again, dropping her gaze to where her hands rested in her lap. "You were probably luckier than most orphans," she said after a moment.

"I suppose you're right," Alistair conceded. "I wasn't raised as the arl's son, though, if you're picturing that. I slept in hay out in the stables, not on silk sheets." He fell silent for a while, and Elyssa was content to simply sit beside him. 

"I remember I had an amulet with Andraste's holy symbol on it," he continued after a while. "The only thing I had of my mother's. I was so furious at being sent away I tore it off and threw it at the wall and it shattered. Stupid, stupid thing to do…" he added sadly. "The arl came by the monastery a few times to see how I was, but I was stubborn. I hated it there and blamed him for everything… and eventually he just stopped coming."

"You were young," Elyssa said quietly, in an attempt to try to soothe him. It was odd, she felt better sitting next to him than she'd felt in weeks.

"And raised by dogs. Or I may as well have been, the way I acted," he said with a sigh. "But maybe all young bastards act like that, I don't know. All I know is that the arl is a good man, and well-loved by the people. He was also King Cailan's uncle, so he has a personal motivation to see Loghain pay for what he did." Another pause, but shorter this time. "Anyway, that's all there is to the story," he said, and began walking off.

"Alistair," Elyssa called after him. "Thank you for telling me." He didn't answer, but he did turn and give her a small smile before disappearing into one of the tents. Elyssa picked up a log and put it on the fire, thinking about all Alistair had said.


	18. To the Circle

"Hey, Morrigan," Elyssa called out while the group was walking. Their first destination was going to be the Circle Tower before stopping at Redcliffe. "How did you become a shapechanger?"

"I was not born as such," said the mage as she walked next to Elyssa. "Tis a skill of Flemeth's, taught over many years in the Wilds. The Chasind have tales of we witches, saying that we assume the forms of creatures to watch them from hiding. When a child is alone and separate from his tribe, that is when we strike, dragging the young boy kicking and screaming to our lair to be devoured. A most amusing legend." 

"But it's just a legend, right?" Elyssa asked, almost worried. 

"So I assume," Morrigan admitted. "My mother has walked the Wilds far longer than I. Who am I to suggest what things she has done and not done in her past? Why do you ask? Is there something specific you wish to know?"

"Can anyone be a shapechanger?" Elyssa asked.

"Anyone with sufficient will," Morrigan began. "But the act of transformation is a magical one. Tis a spell, and thus requires a mage's talents. If you had a notion to learn such a skill for yourself, sadly you must remain disappointed."

"I've never heard of magic like that before," Elyssa admitted. 

"No? Tis not unheard of, in the remote corners of the world," the witch said. "There are traditions of magic outside the Circle of Magi, despite what those mages would have you believe. Some of these traditions are old, indeed, passed down as carefully guarded lore from one generation to the next. The zealots of the Chantry would uproot all such practitioners if they could, but as luck have it, some still exist. My mother is such a one."

Elyssa paused to think about what Morrigan had said. "That's good," she finally said. "Such traditions need to be preserved." 

"I am surprised you think so," she admitted. "Still, 'tis a pleasant thing to hear."

"Do you spend a lot of time as an animal?" Elyssa wondered. 

"There were nights when the Wilds called to me, 'tis true," Morrigan admitted, looking up at the clear blue sky. "You look upon the world around you and think you know it well. I have smelled it as a wolf, listened as a cat, prowled shadows that you never dreamed existed. But my life is as a human. I am under no illusions to the contrary," she added quickly. Elyssa caught the tone she used when talking about exploring the world in various animal forms, and she found herself wondering what it would be like, to be able to turn into different animals.

"That's all I wanted to ask," Elyssa said thoughtfully. 

"Indeed? Have you an opinion on my abilities then?" Morrigan asked, turning to look at Elyssa. "Am I an unnatural abomination to be put to the torch?"

"That would just make you angry, I think," Elyssa said. 

"No doubt it would. But enough of such talk. Let us proceed lest the dust gather on us." With that, Morrigan moved on ahead of Elyssa, and Leliana seemed to appear in her place. 

"Good timing, Leliana, I've been wanting to talk to you," Elyssa said. 

"Well, here I am," the red-head said with a nod.

"This vision of yours…" Elyssa began. 

"I knew this would come up sooner or later," Leliana said with a sigh. "I don't know how to explain, but I had a dream… In it, there was an impenetrable darkness… It was so dense, so real. And there was a noise, a terrible, ungodly noise… I stood on a peak and watched as the darkness consumed everything… and when the storm swallowed the last of the sun's light, I… I fell, and the darkness drew me in…"

"You dreamed of the Blight?" Elyssa asked, surprised. Grey Wardens were supposed to be the only ones who had darkspawn dreams.

"I suppose I did," Leliana agreed after a moment. "That was what the darkness was, no? When I woke, I went to the chantry's gardens, as I always do. But that day, the rosebush in the corner had flowered… Everyone knew that bush was dead. It was grey and twisted and gnarled--the ugliest thing you ever saw, but there it was--a single, beautiful rose. It was as though the Maker had stretched out His hand to say: 'Even in the midst of this darkness there is hope and beauty. Have faith.'"

"And… This made you want to help me?" Elyssa asked, still skeptical. 

"In my dream, I fell, or… or maybe I jumped… I'd do anything to stop the Blight. I know that we can do it." She seemed determined. "There are so many good things in the Maker's world. How can I sit by while the Blight devours… everything?"

"I suppose I couldn't sit by either," Elyssa admitted after a moment. She had liked the thought of joining the Wardens before… Well, before everything blew up in her face. 

"That is why you are a Grey Warden," Leliana said definitively. "Come, there is a Blight to stop." And she too sped up. They had planned on camping on the lake's shore anyway, regardless of whether they got there today or tomorrow. Better to be well-rested for whatever was waiting for them in the Circle Tower. It was around then that Alistair happened to come even with her. 

"Hey, Alistair, how did you become a Grey Warden?" Elyssa asked him suddenly, causing him to slow down a little, falling into step beside her. 

"Same way you did," he said. "You drink some blood, you choke on it and pass out. You haven't forgotten already, have you?" he asked jokingly. 

"I mean before that," Elyssa said after a moment.

"Let's see, I was in the Chantry before," he said quickly. "I trained for many years to become a templar, in fact. That's where I learned most of my skills."

"So you mentioned before," Elyssa remembered.

"It's really for the best," Alistair insisted. "I'm not exactly the Chantry type, if you haven't noticed. I don't think I would have made a very good templar. The Grand Cleric didn't want to let me go. Duncan was forced to conscript me, actually, and was she ever furious when he did. I thought she was going to have us both arrested. I was lucky." Elyssa watched as his face relaxed. This memory of Duncan was obviously a fond one. 

"Why did the grand cleric want to keep you?" she asked, curious. She didn't know much about the inner workings of the Chantry. 

"I wondered that myself," he admitted. "It's not as if she valued me highly. I think she just didn't want to give anything to the Grey Wardens, is all. The Chantry didn't lose much. And I think I can do more fighting the Blight anyhow rather than sitting in a temple somewhere." A pause, and Elyssa cast a sidelong glance at Alistair to find him looking up at the sky. "I'll always be thankful to Duncan for recruiting me. If it hadn't been for him, you know, I would never… I wouldn't have…"

"I'm sorry," Elyssa said quickly.

"No, it's… I'm sorry," Alistair said to her. "I shouldn't be… it's fine. He died a hero. They all did." His voice cracked, and it made Elyssa's heart hurt.

"I'll always be thankful for him, too," she said, as a way to brighten Alistair again. "If it hadn't been for Duncan, I would have died that day in Highever."

"Come on, let's go, I think I'm done talking," Alistair said quickly. Elyssa watched his back, a feeling of sadness settling in her heart. She hadn't meant to make him sad again… She sighed and kept walking, keeping more to herself this time, as the sky slowly blossomed with the colors of sunset.


	19. The First Treaty

It was dark when they made it to the docks used to take people to the Circle Tower. Leliana made some comment about the view from the top of the tower, and Elyssa found herself agreeing for a moment. It must be even better than the view from the top of Highever Castle. But there was a man standing outside the inn, and Elyssa went over to talk to him.

"Why, bless my soul, what's a distinguished personage like yourself doing here?" the man asked, obviously recognizing her as Teyrn Cousland's daughter right off. 

"I was looking to get across the lake, to the tower," Elyssa informed the man. 

"Hah! Don't hold your breath!" the man said. "No one's been allowed across the lake for days. I'm the ferryman, leastwise I used to be. Poor old Kester, out of a job." 

"Why?" Elyssa asked, curious.

"I don't got a clue, they wouldn't tell me!" the man, Kester, said, sounding resentful. "Greagoir just came down and said, 'Don't you worry Kester. We got it all under control, we do.' Didn't say nothing else." 

_Is Greagoir the Knight-Commander of the Circle Tower?_ Elyssa wondered silently. 

"But then he puts Carroll in charge of my boat, Lissie!" Kester continued. "Named for my grandmum, she was."

Elyssa glanced over at the tower. "Is something wrong up there at the tower?" she asked, suddenly glad she decided to come to the Circle first. If something was wrong with the mages, it had to be stopped, and fast, before it spread to the rest of Thedas. Of course, that was part of the reason the Circle was in a tower in the middle of the lake.

"I told you, they didn't tell me nothing," Kester said. "And if I know them mages, I'm better off keeping out of their business. If I had to guess, I'd guess it had something to do with magic. But, the tower's always got something to do with magic."

_Brilliant,_ Elyssa found herself thinking sarcastically. _Looks like we need to go talk to Carroll._

"I should get going," Elyssa said politely. 

"You go on ahead then," Kester said pleasantly. "It were nice talking to you." 

"You! You're not looking to get across to the tower, are you?" the templar guarding the boat asked as they approached. "Because I have strict orders not to let anyone pass." 

"I am a Grey Warden, and I seek the assistance of the mages," Elyssa said simply, her eyes hard. 

"Oh, you're a Grey Warden, are you? Prove it," the templar demanded. Tch. What was with all these people? If this templar knew who… No, she couldn't keep trying to live under the Cousland name, not now. It wouldn't do for Rendon Howe to catch wind that one of the Couslands had escaped his massacre before she could find him. 

"I have these documents, here," Elyssa said, handing the mage treaty to the templar. 

"Yes? Oh, a Grey Warden seal," he observed. "So you're claiming to be one of **those.** "

_What is it with all the men out here? Not very bright, is this one? But I guess you don't have to be that smart to swing a sword around,_ Elyssa reminded herself silently. 

"You know, I have some documents too," the templar continued. "They say I'm the queen of Antiva. What do you think of that?" 

"Not much," Elyssa responded coldly. "You're obviously a templar."

"And if you can't prove who you are, I'm not letting you in," Carroll said again. Elyssa rolled her eyes. Why did they always have to be such a bother? "Anyway, it was nice chatting with you. Now on your way. Right now. Go."

She sighed. "Your superior won't like that you're giving me trouble," she said with a glare. 

"Oh really?" the templar said with a laugh. "You think Greagoir would be upset with me for not letting you in? Wait… actually, he would. Good point." Finally. 

"Well, we should try our best to avoid that, shouldn't we?" Elyssa suggested, wishing that she had just been able to take the bloody boat. These people were too much trouble. 

"He's the big guy around here… I bet he could deal with one Grey Warden. Alleged Grey Warden." Well, they hadn't really gotten the stupid templar to realize that she was speaking the truth, but that didn't matter too much. As long as he was going to let them across, that was all they needed to worry about. "Well, you want that I should take you there now?"

"Yes, please do," Elyssa said, doing her best to keep calm. With that, they were across the lake. A broken bridge seemed to be a branch of the King's Road that had collapsed years ago. 

There was chaos when they got inside. Templars running everywhere. 

"…and I want two men stationed within sight of the doors at all times," said one templar to another. This must be Greagoir. "Do not open the doors without my express consent. Is that clear?" 

"Yes ser!" said the other templar before walking off.

"The doors are barred. Are they keeping people out, or in?" Alistair muttered. Elyssa cast a sidelong glance at him, remembering that he'd been a templar-in-training before being recruited into the Wardens.

"Now we wait. And pray," said the templar who Elyssa assumed to be Greagoir. He turned to look at them, as if only just realizing they were there. 

"You're Greagoir, I assume?" Elyssa asked. 

"Who are you? I explicitly told Carroll not to bring anyone across the lake." Well, at least the one in charge seemed smarter than the idiot he'd set to guard the boat. "We are dealing with a very delicate situation. You must leave, for your own safety." 

"No," Elyssa told him. "The mages have an obligation to the Grey Wardens."

"I am weary of the Grey Wardens' ceaseless need for men to fight the darkspawn, but it is their right," Greagoir sighed. "You'll find no allies here. The templars can spare no men, and the mages are… indisposed." He looked over at the closed doors. "I shall speak plainly. The tower is no longer under our control. Abominations and demons stalk the tower's halls." He turned back to look ta Elyssa and her companions. "The Circle is lost. The tower has fallen."

"How did this happen?" Elyssa asked, surprised. The Circle was supposed to be a safe place for mages. What had happened to make them do this?

"We don't know," Greagoir admitted softly. "We saw only demons, hunting templars and mages alike. I realized we could not defeat them and told my men to flee." 

"What can I do to help?" She wasn't just going to give up here. The demons needed to be cleared out before they spread outside the Circle, lest all of Ferelden face these beasts. And there had to be some mages still alive in there. Right? 

"I have sent word to Denerim, calling for reinforcements and the Right of Annulment," he said after a moment.

"What good will that do?" Elyssa wondered. The Right of Annulment allowed the death of every mage within a Circle.

"The mages are probably already dead," Alistair said gently. He still remembered that night in camp, when the others were asleep, when she had told him the truth about her past. "Any abominations remaining in there must be dealt with, no matter what." 

"This situation is dire," Greagoir continued. "There is no alternative--everything in the tower must be destroyed so it can be made safe again." He was very adamant about this. But Elyssa knew child mages were here too, and she wasn't about to kill a child if she could avoid it.

"The mages are not defenseless," Elyssa reminded him. "Some must still live."

"If any are still alive, the Maker Himself has shielded them," Greagoir sighed. "No one could have survived those monstrous creatures. It is too painful to hope for survivors and find… nothing."

"I'll look for survivors," Elyssa said, determined. Alistair was watching her during this conversation, and he found that he had to bite back a smile at the sight of her so determined. He was seeing so many new sides of her now, and he quite liked it. Perhaps she was finally starting to heal.

"I assure you, an abomination is a force to be reckoned with, and you will face more than one," Greagoir said, surprised at her. 

"I must try," Elyssa assured him. "It is the right thing to do." She knew her parents would want her to fight to protect innocent people. That was why she'd decided to train as a warrior, after all. 

"A word of caution… once you cross that threshold, there is no turning back," Greagoir warned her. "The great doors must remain barred. I will open them for no one until I have proof that it is safe. I will only believe it is over if the first enchanter stands before me and tells me it is so. If Irving has fallen… then the Circle is lost, and must be destroyed." He looked down at the girl before him, noting just how young she really was. "May Andraste lend you her courage, whatever you decide."

After trading with the quartermaster, the group went into the Circle. And the heavy doors thudded shut behind them, sealing them in.


	20. Broken Circle, part 1

Elyssa wasn't prepared for the horror that awaited them inside. There were bloodstains and dead bodies scattered through the halls, and not all of them were adults. There were a few children who lied dead on the stone. She found herself frozen, shaking slightly at the sight of so many dead. She saw Highever Castle burning around her, too, superimposed over what she was looking at. The screaming, the clang of metal on metal, the twang of crossbows… 

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her flashback, and she turned to look up into Alistair's worried face.

"Are you alright?" he asked her gently. 

"I.. I will be," Elyssa said shakily. She took a few deep, steadying breaths before speaking again. "Let's go. This area seems to already be clear of demons and abominations." Her voice was stronger that time, and Alistair allowed her to take the lead again.

They went through a door and found the reason why they had not seen any demons to that point. There were a few mages set up in a large room, with a number of children. Elyssa could only watch as the oldest one defeated a demon the color of fire, then turned to them.

"It's you! No.. Come no further," the woman said. Elyssa searched her memory quickly and recalled that her name was Wynne. "Grey Warden or no, I will strike you down where you stand!" Elyssa's face softened a moment, and she nearly smiled. She was simply glad to find someone else who had survived the disaster that was Ostagar.

"Wynne, what are you doing here?" she asked, glancing around the room at the children.

"I am a mage of the Circle," Wynne responded simply. "More importantly, why are you here? The templars would not let just anyone by." 

"I came here seeking the aid of the mages," Elyssa explained quickly. 

"And you were told that the Circle was in no shape to help you, I suppose," Wynne said, irritated. Elyssa understood, somewhat. Who wouldn't be irritated after fighting demons? "So why did the templars let you in? Do they plan to attack the tower now?" Elyssa averted her eyes.

"No, they are waiting for reinforcements from Denerim," she said after a moment. 

"So Greagoir thinks the Circle is beyond hope," Wynne said with a sigh. "He probably assumes we are all dead. They abandoned us to our fate, but even trapped as we are, we have survived. If they invoke the Right, however, we will not be allowed to stand against them."

"What happened here?" Elyssa asked. "Greagoir didn't seem to know how this all began."

"Let it suffice to say that we had something of a revolt on our hands, let by a mage named Uldred," Wynne explained. "When he returned from the battle at Ostagar, he tried to take over the Circle. As you can see, it didn't work out as he had planned."

"Thank the Maker for that," Elyssa added quickly. "At least there are a few of you who have survived…" She felt Alistair beside and slightly behind her, and she took comfort in his presence.

"I don't know what became of Uldred, but I am certain all this is his doing," Wynne continued. "I will not lose the Circle to one man's pride and stupidity." Elyssa nodded her agreement. 

"Leave it to me," Elyssa said, the determined glint returning to her eyes. "I will save the mages." There was a moment when Wynne realized that this was not the same woman she had met before the battle at Ostagar. This woman was stronger now. Whatever had happened to her since, something had changed.

"I erected a barrier over the door leading to the rest of the tower, so nothing from inside could attack the children," Wynne explained, motioning to the doorway where the demon had come through. "You will not be able to enter as long as the barrier holds, but I will dispel it if you join with me to save the Circle." 

"We must avoid needless slaughter," Elyssa agreed. She couldn't allow what happened at Highever Castle to happen here too. 

"Yes," Wynne said with a nod. "Even if we cannot eliminate all the demons and abominations, together, we could lead the survivors out. Once Greagoir sees that we have made the tower safe, I trust he will tell his men to back down. He is not unreasonable."

"Greagoir will only accept it if the first enchanter says so," Elyssa reported. 

"Then our path is laid out before us," Wynne said, also determined. "We must save Irving."

"Will the children be safe here?" Elyssa asked after a moment. 

"Petra and Kinnon will watch them," Wynne explained simply. "If we slay all the fiends we encounter on our way, none will get by to threaten the children." Elyssa nodded. That made sense. 

"Very well--if you think it is best," Elyssa conceded. It was time for them to be off, anyway. The sooner they got through this, the better.

"You want us to assist this preachy schoolmistress?" Morrigan complained. "To rescue these pathetic excuses for mages? They allow themselves to be corralled like cattle, mindless. Now their masters have chosen death for them and I say let them have it." Elyssa glared at Morrigan. 

"I've made my decision," Elyssa said coldly. "We will help Wynne." They all seemed taken aback at her tone, but only Alistair actually understood why she felt so strongly about this. 

"Have it your way," Morrigan scoffed.

"Petra, Kinnon… look after the others. I will be back soon," Wynne said to the other women in mage robes. 

"Wynne… are you sure you're alright?" asked one of the women, in gold-colored robes. "You were so badly hurt earlier. Maybe I should come along." 

"The others need your protection more," Wynne said gently. "I will be alright. Stay here with them… keep them safe and calm."

"Have faith, we will not fail," Elyssa assured the girl. She was determined to succeed in this. She hadn't lived through everything until now only to fall prey to some demon.

"Your confidence is refreshing, though you should make sure it does not blind you to your weaknesses," Wynne advised. Elyssa nodded. "If you are ready, let us go end this." Elyssa looked at the group who was with her. After a short debate, Morrigan was eventually persuaded to stay with the children while Wynne joined Elyssa, Alistair, and Leliana to clear out the tower. 

Elyssa got to her knees before her mabari. "Now, Kenai, I need you to stay here," she told him gently. The hound let out a little whine. "I know you want to come with us, but you need to stay here and protect the children." Kenai barked once, and Elyssa managed a small smile. "Thank you, my friend. I'll be back soon, I promise." Kenai whined again. "I promise I'll be back." She softly kissed his forehead before standing again. "Alright. Let's get going." She noticed Alistair watching her, but said nothing. She didn't like leaving Kenai behind, but having too many with her would only make it harder to fight the abominations and demons in the tower's narrow halls. Wynne dispelled the barrier, and they were on their way.   
_____________________________________

Elyssa blinked, stunned, looking up at the ceiling. A hand was offered to her, and after a moment she took it. Alistair helped her to her feet. "Okay, since when do things explode when they die?" she asked, brushing the ash off her armor. "Ug, these things smell disgusting… Almost worse than the darkspawn."

"Apparently abominations like to go out with a bang," Alistair joked. 

"Oh, come on, really?" Elyssa said, giving him a look. He shrugged, offering her a small grin. She sighed. "Well, now we know to be more careful." Leliana nodded, and the group continued up the stairs.

On the second floor was someone that Wynne recognized. She called him Owain, and apparently he was in charge of the stockroom. He mentioned something called the Litany of Adralla, which Wynne said protected from mind domination. Which could only mean blood magic. Apparently someone named Niall had taken the Litany already. If they found this Niall person, they would take the Litany and use it to defeat Uldred. But until then, they had to fight their way through the abominations and demons. 

One of the blood mages attempted to negotiate for her life, but Elyssa was not willing to spare someone who was so obviously using blood magic. Too many people had died here because of blood mages. She paused again after that, before opening the next door, and looked down at her hands. So many deaths on her hands… So many people were dead because of her… But she couldn't stop now. She had to keep moving. 

A mage named Godwin seemed happier hiding in a closet than trying to escape, so she let him be. Just like with the children, as long as they killed everything along the way, none would get by to pose a risk to him. Later on, there were a couple Tranquil who were being held captive by an abomination and some skeletons.

Further up the tower was another demon of some sort, one that Elyssa couldn't recall having seen on the way up. On the floor next to it was the body of a man.

"Oh, look. Visitors," the demon said slowly. "I'd entertain you, but… too much effort involved…" Was this a demon of sloth, then? 

"Good," Elyssa said, reaching for her sword. "That will make you that much easier to kill."

"But why?" the demon asked. "Aren't you tired of all the violence in this world? I know I am. Wouldn't you like to just lay down and… forget about all this? Leave it all behind?" 

Elyssa found herself growing tired. Her limbs were heavy, and she couldn't keep her eyes open. But she couldn't give up now! She still had things to do… But… So sleepy…

"Can't… keep eyes open…" Alistair said slowly. "Someone… pinch… me…" There was a dull thud from behind Elyssa as Alistair collapsed and began to snore. 

"I'll not listen to your lies, demon," Leliana said from her position by the door. "You have no… power over me…" She leaned against the wall and slid down, also falling asleep. 

"Resist," Wynne demanded, though even her voice began to show signs of the demon's influence. "You must resist, else we are all lost…" But she was better off than the other two, who were asleep already.

"Why do you fight?" the demon asked. "You deserve more… You deserve a rest. The world will go on without you."

Huh. That's true. The world wouldn't end just because she took a nap… Elyssa yawned and slumped to the ground, falling on her side as she succumbed to the demon.


	21. Broken Dreams

She'd been spacing out again. Elyssa physically shook herself, looking around. This fortress really was beautiful, even if something still felt… off. She looked up at the cloudy sky. Too bad it couldn't always be sunny here. Wait… Where was here? And… What was she doing here, anyway? She began to walk forward, looking around at the stone walls that made up this place. She felt like she was supposed to be here, but at the same time, something was wrong. She climbed up the steps to a platform, where Duncan was standing, waiting for her. 

"Welcome, my friend!" another Warden called to her. "We fought the good fight and won! Rejoice!" What was he talking about? She was so confused… She walked over to Duncan, who stopped to talk to her.

"Ah, there you are," he said with a smile. "I'm not disturbing you, am I?" 

"I… Can't quite remember what I was doing," she admitted, giving him a puzzled look.

"I'm sure you were simply deep in thought," he responded. "You've been at Weisshaupt for some time now. Do you like it here?" 

Weisshaupt… The Grey Warden fortress in the Anderfels. That explained how she knew the man who called to her was a Warden. 

"Yes, of course," Elyssa said, though something still didn't feel right. "It's a beautiful fortress."

"It will stand as a testament to the time when the Grey Wardens were needed to fight the darkspawn," Duncan said proudly. 

Wait, what? Elyssa's eyes widened. Were needed? As in, they were not needed anymore? But, that wasn't possible! Nobody had figured out how darkspawn were breeding, there was no way they could have been completely wiped out! … Right?

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Don't we still have to fight?" She was so confused.

"The darkspawn are gone, remember? You were there in that last great battle," he said to her. Something in his voice just wasn't right. "It was a triumph for all of us, bringing down the archdemon and setting the underground lairs ablaze."

"That's not possible…" Elyssa muttered. There were Deep Roads entrances all over southern Thedas, there was no way the entirety of the Deep Roads could have been cleared of darkspawn in a single battle. "You're hiding something from me." Her voice changed, casting an accusation at this man who was pretending to be the one who saved her life. 

"Foolish child," he said darkly. "I have given you so much and you cast it back in my face. Can you not be content with the peace I offer?" Of course it wasn't Duncan. Her memories rushed back to her, and the last battle hit her with full force. Duncan was dead. He was killed at Ostagar. This man wasn't Duncan, just a bad imitation. 

"You offer complacency, not peace," Elyssa argued, glaring at this thing that dared to imitate her mentor.

"It seems only war and death will satisfy you," the fake Duncan growled darkly. "So be it! Have your war and your darkspawn! May they be your doom!" Tears sprang unbidden to Elyssa's eyes at these harsh words, even though she knew the man before her was not Duncan. The real Duncan had never spoken like that. Elyssa narrowed her eyes and drew her sword. No way was she going to let this thing get away with taking Duncan's form.

But it was still Duncan's form that lie dead on the ground before her. She fell to her knees and allowed herself a moment to mourn. Duncan had been a great man. He had saved her, in more ways than one. He saved her life in Highever, then gave her a reason to keep fighting when he recruited her into the Wardens. Because of Duncan, Elyssa had met Alistair and everyone else. This had been a mockery of a great man.

She stood and approached the pedestal that had appeared with the demon's death. The world around her faded into a bright white light, and rebuilt itself around her in a new location. There was a man there, and he spoke as she approached.

"Who are you?" he asked quickly. "Where did you come from? Are you a demon?" He looked like the man who had been in the room with the Sloth demon. "No, I see that you're not… You're like me. Congratulations on getting out of that trap."

"Yes, what now?" Elyssa asked.

"I don't know," the man admitted. "This place drains you of everything… hope, feeling, life…"

"We'll find a way out," Elyssa said, determined. She wasn't going to let herself die here.

"No, there is no way out of here," the man continued. "You think there might be, but you'd be wrong. You see that pedestal there? I've studied the runes on it--runes that signify different islands of the sloth demon's domain. The sloth demon itself is on the center island, but you can't get there. The five islands around the center somehow form a protective ward. I thought I was getting somewhere when I figured that out, and I went to each island in turn only to have my hopes dashed." He sighed. "There is always an obstacle. You'll see the path but be unable to get to it, and it taunts you and drives you mad."

"Could my companions be on one of the islands?" Elyssa asked. She needed to find them before she confronted Sloth, or she'd be killed easily. What happened to people who were killed in the Fade, anyway?

"I… I don't know. There are many dreamers," he told her. You might find a way to reach them through the islands… if you're lucky."

"I'll be back," Elyssa said to him.

"Don't mind me then," he said as she walked off. She went through a glowing purple portal and ended up in another part of the Fade. Before she could draw her blade, the rage demon was on her. She dispatched it easily, and then someone started to speak to her… It was a mouse…?

"Thank you!" the mouse said. "But… too late for me…" Elyssa got to her knees so she could hear it better. "Kill Yevena, the demoness that rules here. She protects her master, Sloth… There's a door! A door only demons can see… the key must be in another realm…" Maybe a dreamer on another island? "Take my power… Save any others trapped in nightmares. Kill the demons that guard Sloth." The mouse began to glow, and Elyssa felt something change inside her. "Make my…" The dreamer's last two words floated through the air, an unfinished sentence that sounded like a cry for help. Elyssa opened her eyes and got to her feet, once more determined to kill that damn demon who had trapped them here. She took a breath and closed her eyes again, focusing on the new energy she felt. The world spun around her, and the next time she opened her eyes, she was on all fours and about the size of the mouse. 

She took a moment to look over herself, and squeaked when she realized that she'd _become_ a mouse. She stared as her new tail swished over the ground. This was weird… Was this what Morrigan felt like whenever she turned into an animal? Was this what it felt like to be a shapechanger? 

_Would Morrigan even believe me if I told her I turned into a mouse in the Fade?_ Elyssa wondered as she slipped through a nearby mouse hole. Thankfully, the rage demon on the other side didn't seem to notice her right away. Suddenly, she was back in human form, and she drew her blade against the demon.

_This place is ridiculous… I should find the others quickly, so we can get out of here._

Eventually, she came full circle, meeting the man from earlier again. 

"Something happened, didn't it?" he asked as she approached. "You look a little different. What happened?"

"I became a mouse," she told him. 

"Did you? Did it help?" he asked, sounding excited now. "I know I saw the tiny holes. Were you small enough to get through?"

"Yes, it was easy," she reported. 

"You're… so much braver than I am," he said, looking almost sad. "I was so sure it was impossible to get anywhere… Do you think you could learn other shapes? Maybe they could help you get to places you couldn't otherwise." Elyssa nodded. That made sense. She said good-bye to this man who's name she still didn't know, and then went to investigate the pedestal, which now seemed to be working.

She found a dreamer in a darkspawn-filled version of the Circle, and for a moment realized that it this was going to happen if she didn't defeat Sloth and get out. The dreamer gave her the ability to turn into a spirit that, to her, looked way too much like an Arcane Horror. But again she kept moving.

She stopped to talk to the mage again, after defeating the demoness Yevena, and realized that this must be Niall. He talked about getting the Litany of Adralla from the stockroom, and watching the others fall. Elyssa realized that it was almost like her own experience in Highever. How similar recent events were becoming. She kept moving, making her way through the other islands.

There was a dreaming templar in the nightmare where the tower was burning, and he gave Elyssa the ability to change into a burning skeleton, so as to be impervious to fire.

In a nightmare where mages had gone mad, she found a dreamer who gave her the ability to change into a golem form. With four shifting forms, it was time to take down the rest of the demons that were guarding Sloth. And find her companions, of course. 

It seemed that defeating the demons opened the way to other areas besides the center island. After all five demons were defeated, then Elyssa went to the odd islands outside the ring.


	22. Wynne in the Fade

The first island she went to was where Wynne was being held, surrounded by dead apprentices. 

"Maker forgive me…" the old woman muttered. "I failed them all… They died and I did not stop it…"

"Don't believe it, Wynne," Elyssa said as she approached. She may not have known the old mage very long, but she knew how guilt felt. It was terrible… 

"How can I disbelieve what I see, what I hear and smell and feel?" Wynne asked sadly. Elyssa looked away, remembering how she had felt before she realized the truth about her own dream. "Death. Can you not see it? It's all around us."

"You're in the Fade," Elyssa insisted. "This is just a dream."

"Why was I spared, if not to help them?" Wynne sighed, as if she didn't hear Elyssa. "What use is my life now that I have failed in the task that was given me?" The old woman looked at Elyssa, despair in her eyes. "Leave me to my grief. I shall bury their bones, scatter their ashes to the four winds, and mourn their passing till I too am dead."

"You have to fight this feeling, whatever it is," Elyssa insisted again. She didn't want any of her friends to fall victim to the Fade.

"Your blatant disregard for the souls of the dead strikes me as being utterly inappropriate," Wynne said harshly. Her words caught Elyssa by surprise, and she had to look away. Disregard for the dead… If Wynne knew what she'd been through, the old woman wouldn't dare cast such accusations.

"They're not dead yet," Elyssa tried again. "This is a trick."

"I do not know what you are trying to tell me," Wynne admitted, her voice soft and sad again. "Why must you make this more painful? And where were you when this happened? I trusted you as an ally, and you were nowhere to be found." The accusations in her tone made Elyssa's heart clench, even though she knew this was a trick by that sloth demon.

"Isn't that proof enough that something isn't right?" Elyssa suggested.

"What sort of proof?" Wynne asked, seeming to relax slightly.

"Think back," Elyssa requested. "Do you recall when I abandoned you to this?"

"We were entering into the tower… and then I remember that there was all this death about me," Wynne remembered sadly. Well, that was better than Elyssa had done at first. Her memories had been all kinds of scrambled. "There was no sign of you, none at all. It was just me and… all this. I… I don't remember anything of them dying. I just know they are dead. Why… Why wouldn't I remember them dying?"

"It's a trick, designed to keep you here in your misery," Elyssa told her. 

"Something in your speech rings true, but it feels as though my mind is… clouded over," Wynne said slowly. Elyssa nodded. That was how she'd felt too. "Perhaps some time away from this place will help me think clearly."

"That sounds like a good idea," Elyssa agreed gently. 

"Don't leave us Wynne. We don't want to be alone." One of the things that was pretending to be a dead apprentice stood and spoke, and the others also got to their feet. 

"Holy Maker!" Wynne said, startled. "Stay away foul creature!"

"More demons, joy," Elyssa said sarcastically as she drew her sword. 

"Stay Wynne," the apprentice-demon said. "Sleep soundly in the comforting embrace of the earth. Do not fight it. You belong here, with us."

"N-no. Not yet," Wynne began protesting. "My task is not yet done… It is not time yet."

"Come… Away to your rest…" the demon-apprentice said before it started attacking.

"Is it over?" Wynne asked after the fighting had ended and the demons were dead. "Thank the Maker for you. Wait, what's happening? Where are you going?" Wynne was slowly surrounded by some sort of sparkly dust, and then disappeared. Elyssa allowed herself a small smile. One companion was now free from Sloth. Now to find Alistair and Leliana.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a couple other stories that I'm working on. Do you guys want me to post them too?


	23. Leliana in the Fade

When Elyssa found Leliana, she was in the middle of prayer. It took her a moment to remember that Leliana had been a cloistered sister in Lothering before finding them.

"Blessed art thou who exists in the sight of the Maker," Leliana was muttering. "Blessed art thou who seeks His forgiveness…"

"Thank the Maker you're safe," Elyssa said automatically, breathing a sigh of relief. 

"Blessed--What? Who are you?" Leliana asked, looking confused. Great. Damn sloth demon really enjoyed messing with people's memories. 

"I beg you, do not disturb the girl's meditations," said the older woman who was dressed in chantry robes. 

"Revered mother, I do not know this person," Leliana said to the woman. Elyssa sighed quietly. Why couldn't this just be easy? And Alistair was bound to be oblivious to it all too…

"The Fade is playing tricks with your mind," Elyssa said, in an attempt to get Leliana to remember.

"I'm sorry, but I-I don't know what you're talking about." Just as formal as ever, it seemed.

"Please do not vex her," the revered mother insisted irritably. "She needs quiet and solitude, to calm her mind and heal her heart." 

_That doesn't always work…_ Elyssa was tempted to say. Instead, she said, "Leliana, listen to me, please. This isn't real."

"Isn't real?" Leliana repeated. "I don't understand."

"But the Circle Tower… We had a task to complete, remember?" Elyssa asked, almost desperate now. She was worried about being here too long, about not being able to get back. About being stuck here forever, the way Niall was.

"I do not know what you're talking about, and I find your harassment quite uncalled for," Leliana said, somewhat coldly. 

"This is a place of peace and contemplation, and your behavior is inappropriate," the fake revered mother said. "Leave now, or I shall be forced to take steps!"

"I'm not leaving without Leliana," Elyssa said, still trying to get her point across to her friend.

"I will deal with you, and then our hold over the girl will be absolute!" The revered mother transformed into a Shade, and Elyssa drew her sword again. Once again, she was fighting alone, but this time it was for a friend.

"Holy Maker!" Leliana gasped when the fight was done. "She… She was a…"

"A demon, yes," Elyssa said softly.

"Ugh… My head feels heavy, like I've just woken up from a terrible nightmare," Leliana moaned. She shook her head and looked over at Elyssa. "I believe we had… some task to accomplish. Let us be on our way--wait, what's happening to me?" The sparkly dusty stuff swirled around Leliana, the same way they had around Wynne. And then she, too, was gone. 

"Now I just have to find Alistair," Elyssa muttered, looking back down at the pedestal.


	24. Alistair in the Fade

When she found Alistair, he was standing next to a woman, and the two of them were surrounded by children. Elyssa paused, and was surprised by the pain in her heart at the sight. Was… Was Alistair's dream to marry this woman? Were these supposed to be their children? She shook off those thoughts and marched up to him.

"Hey, it's great to see you again," Alistair said when she came up to him. "I was just thinking about you… isn't that a marvelous coincidence? This is my sister, Goldanna." The sense of relief Elyssa felt didn't make any sense, really. Why should she care about who Alistair chose to marry? "These are her children, and there's more about somewhere. We're one big happy family, at long last!" 

"You seem very… content…" Elyssa said slowly. 

"I am! I'm happier than I've been my entire life. Isn't that strange?" he asked her. "I thought being a Grey Warden would make me happy, but it didn't. This does." There was a smile on his face, that had been there this whole time. 

"I'm overjoyed to have my little brother back," the woman he called Goldanna said. "I'll never let him out of my sight again." 

"You live with your sister?" Elyssa asked hesitantly.

"There's nothing wrong with living with my sister," Alistair insisted. "I've never had a real family, before."

"Well, Alistair, is your friend staying for supper?" his fake sister asked. 

"Say you'll stay," Alistair requested. "Goldanna's a great cook. Maybe she'll make her mince pie." He turned to look at her. "You can, can't you?" 

"Of course, dear brother. Anything for you." Elyssa knew Alistair wanted to be happy, but this… This was just like that templar that had been under the desire demon's spell. 

"I can't stay, and you shouldn't either Alistair," Elyssa said, attempting to get through to him. 

"You're acting really strangely," Alistair said, suspicious now. 

"Think about this and how you got here," Elyssa requested. "Think carefully." _Please, let this work…_

"Alright, if it makes you happy," he sighed. "I… it's a little fuzzy, that's strange…"

"Alistair, come and have some tea," his fake sister said quickly.

"No… wait… I remember a… tower," Alistair said thoughtfully. "The Circle… it was under attack… there were demons. That's all I really remember," he admitted.

"The sloth demon, do you remember that?" Elyssa asked. 

"A-are you saying… this is a-a dream?" he asked, surprised. "But it's so real…"

"Of course it's real!" protested the fake Goldanna. "Now wash up before supper and I--"

"Something doesn't feel quite right here," Alistair said, finally noticing it. "I… think I have to go."

"Come with me then," Elyssa said, holding out a hand. 

"No! He is ours, and I'd rather see him dead than free!" the demon yelled, its voice distorting into a deep, twisted thing. The children turned into devouring skeletons, and the fighting began. Thankfully, Elyssa had Alistair on her side.

"G-Goldanna? I can't believe it… How did I not see this earlier?" Alistair wondered. 

"You're in the Fade, which isn't like the real world," Elyssa reminded him.

"Yes… uh, well…" he said brilliantly. "Try not to tell everyone how easily fooled I was."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Elyssa said, enjoying the irony of her statement.

"Are we going now? Wait, where are you going?" The same sparkly dusty stuff swirled around Alistair. "What's happening to me? Hey!" And then he too was gone. Elyssa turned and walked back to the pedestal. 

"Now for Sloth," Elyssa muttered, running her fingers over the pedestal's smooth surface.


	25. Sloth

The island in the center was now unprotected. And Elyssa found herself there, finally. It was time to defeat this demon and get out of this maze. 

"What do we have here?" Sloth said as she approached. "A rebellious minion? An escaped slave?" It laughed, a dark, creepy sound that sent a chill down Elyssa's spine. "My, my… but you do have some gall. But playtime is over. You all have to go back now."

"Oh, here I am!" came Alistair's voice from behind her. "And there you are! You just disappeared? Well, no matter!" Good, they'd made their way here after all.

"You tried to keep us apart," Leliana observed. "You led us from each other because you fear us. Don't you?"

"You will not hold us, demon," Wynne said, a determined edge to her voice. "We found each other in this place and you cannot stand against us." 

"If you go back quietly, I'll do better this time," the demon said, trying to bribe them. "I'll make you much happier."

"I'll make my own happiness, thank you," Elyssa snapped at it. 

"Can't you think about someone other than yourself?" the demon asked, its tone almost sarcastic. "I'm hurt, so very, very hurt."

"I'll take my chances. I'll do nothing you say," she repeated. The presence of her friends behind her was comforting, gave her the courage she needed to stand against the demon again.

"You wish to battle me? So be it… you will learn to bow to your betters, mortal!" Elyssa put her shapeshifting abilities to good use during this fight.

Elyssa sheathed her sword, her fingers running over the Cousland crest imprinted at the base of the hilt. And then, there was Niall.

"You defeated the demon," he observed, surprised. "I never thought… I never expected you to free yourself, to free us both." There was a moment of hesitation in his voice. "When you return, take the Litany of Adralla from my… body. It will protect you from the worst of the blood magic."

"Your body?" Elyssa asked. Hadn't she saved him too?

"I cannot go with you," he informed her. "I have been here far too long. For you, it will have been an afternoon's nap. Your body won't have wasted away in the real world while your spirit lay in the hands of a demon."

"You think you're going to die?" Elyssa asked, a look of sadness on her face. She had wanted to save him too.

"Every minute I was here, the sloth demon was feeding off of me, using my life to fuel the nightmares of this realm," Niall explained. "There is so little of me left… I was never meant to save the Circle, or… survive its troubles. I am dying, it is as simple as that."

"I'm sorry I could not rescue us earlier," Elyssa said to him, averting her eyes again. 

"I do not fear what may come," Niall admitted. "They say we return to the Maker in death, and that isn't such a terrible thing. My only regret is that I could not save the Circle. But you… you can. Take the Litany off my… my body, when you return. It is important!"

"I will do this," Elyssa assured him.

"I'm not… a hero… Perhaps trying to be one was foolish," Niall mused.

"Ordinary people can do great things when they have to," Elyssa reminded him. She was thinking partly of herself, a nobleman's daughter turned Grey Warden, soldier for all of Thedas.

"Dark times, greater acts of heroism, eh?" Niall pondered. "You may be right." He paused, then continued speaking. "Before I was taken to the Circle, my mother said I was meant for greatness, that I would be more than my ancestors could have ever dreamed. I hope I haven't disappointed her."

"You didn't, Niall," Elyssa assured him. Truthfully, she saw a bit of herself in him right now. She was trying hard to make sure her parents would be proud of her. 

"It is time for us both to be on our way," he said after a moment. "Remember the Litany of Adralla. The Circle is all that matters now. Thank you and goodbye… friend." Niall faded, probably to a different part of the Fade, and Elyssa found the Fade going dark around her.


	26. Broken Circle, part 2

Elyssa's eyes fluttered open, and she slowly pushed up off the floor. She saw Leliana yawn and stand up from where she'd fallen asleep against the wall, and Alistair was helping Wynne to her feet. He saw that she was awake, and he offered a hand to her. She took it, and got pulled into a standing position, quickly wiping at the tear streaks that she realized were on her cheeks. 

"Thanks," she said to Alistair, stretching. Sleeping on the ground was one thing, but sleeping on a stone floor in chainmail armor was awful. From Alistair's face, he felt the same. "Everyone alright?"

"I'm okay," Alistair said, a little to quickly. He had noticed when she wiped away the tear tracks. 

"I'll be sore for a few days, but I can still fight," Leliana said after a moment. "I think I was in a more comfortable position than the rest of you though." 

"Yeah, I might need something to pad my armor for the next week or so…" Elyssa admitted with a sigh. "Wynne, you okay?"

"I am fine as well," was the response. 

"Good," Elyssa said with a nod. She walked over to where Niall's body was, and again felt regret at being unable to bring him back too. A piece of paper was crumpled up in his hand, and she gently pried it loose. "Is this the Litany?" she asked Wynne.

"Yes," the mage confirmed. 

"Alright, let's keep moving. We've got at least one more floor to go, and Uldred is probably up one more," Elyssa said to the others. They nodded and followed her out the door.  
______________________________________

"Okay, what is the Circle doing keeping a drake in the tower?" Elyssa asked Wynne. Wynne didn't provide anything definitive, so Elyssa picked up the scales that had fallen. "Hm… Maybe there's someone in Denerim who can make something out of these…" She put the scales in her bag, to be used at a later date. She looked up when she heard a peculiar chirping sound. "And dragonlings too? Isn't this floor where the templars live?" She sighed, frustrated, and set to defend herself from the baby dragons.  
________________________________-_-____

In the room with the stairs to the next floor was a single templar in some sort of magical containment field. 

"This trick again?" the templar said. "I know what you are. It won't work. I will stay strong…" He was on one knee, with hands clasped as if he were praying.

"A templar, and it seems he's a prisoner," Elyssa said, looking at the magical cage. 

"The boy is exhausted," Wynne observed. "And this cage… I've never seen anything like it." She turned to the templar. "Rest easy, help is here." 

"Enough visions!" the templar protested. "If anything in you is human… kill me now and stop this game." 

"He's delirious," Leliana said, shocked. "He's been tortured… and has probably been denied food and water… I can tell." She walked closer. "Here, I have a skin of-"

"Don't touch me! Stay away!" the templar protested. "Filthy blood mages… getting in my head… I will not break… I'd rather die."

"Where are the other survivors?" Elyssa asked.

"What others? What are you talking about?" he asked harshly. But he sounded confused at the same time. 

"Irving and the other mages who fought Uldred," Wynne added helpfully. "Where are they?"

"They are in the Harrowing Chamber," the templar responded. "The sounds coming out from there… oh Maker…"

"We must hurry," Wynne insisted. "They are in grave danger, I am sure of it." Elyssa nodded.

"You can't save them!" the templar protested. "You don't know what they've become." 

"We can't just kill them all," Elyssa said to him. That would make her too much like Rendon Howe.

"They've been surrounded b-by blood mages whose wicked fingers snake into your mind and corrupt your thoughts!" the templar continued to protest. 

"His hatred of mages is so intense," Alistair noticed, his voice full of pity. "The memory of his friends' deaths is still fresh in his mind."

"You have to end it now, before it's too late," the templar demanded.

"I will not kill an innocent," Elyssa responded sternly. 

"Are you really saving anyone by taking this risk?" the templar asked harshly. "To ensure this horror is ended… to guarantee that no abominations or blood mages live, you must kill everyone up there." 

"I'd rather spare maleficarum than risk harming an innocent," Elyssa said again. 

"Thank you," Wynne told her. "I knew you would make a rational decision."

"Rational?" the templar echoed. "How is this rational? Do you understand the danger?"

"I know full well the dangers of magic, but killing innocents because they might be maleficarum is not justice," Wynne tried to explain, her voice gentle as always. "I know you are angry--"

"You know nothing!" the trapped templar protested. "I am thinking about the future of the Circle. Of Ferelden."

"I do not want the blood of innocents on my hands," Elyssa admitted softly. Alistair heard the pain in her voice. The memory of what happened at Highever still hadn't begun to heal, he assumed. The wound in her heart had been ripped open again and again, first at Ostagar, then with their talk in camp, and now here. A quick glance at Leliana told him that the red-head had also heard the pain in Elyssa's voice.

"I am just willing to see the painful truth, which you are content to ignore," the templar insisted, his voice as loud as his anger. "But what can I do? As you can see, I am in no position to directly influence your actions, though I would love to deal with the mages myself."

"Good," Elyssa said with a huff. "Then you can't cause any trouble."

"My cage is Uldred's doing… or one of his mages," the templar informed her. "Once they're dead, I will be free." That was good to know.

"Stay safe. It will be over soon," Elyssa said as she made her way up the stairs. 

"No one ever listens… Not until it's far too late," the templar muttered. "Maker turn his gaze on you. I hope your compassion hasn't doomed us all."

Elyssa opened the door to the Harrowing Chamber, and the others filed in behind her. She wasn't entirely prepared for the sight that greeted them. A group of abominations were surrounding a mage who seemed to have his hands magically bound. An older mage that Elyssa figured could only be Irving and a few others were sitting on the floor on the other side of the round room, magically bound as well. As they watched, another man walked up to the mage in the middle of the abominations.

"Do you accept the gift that I offer?" the bald man asked the mage, who was now being held in the air by his magically bound wrists. The mage nodded, but his eyes were wide with terror. Elyssa's eyes widened as the mage's magical bonds were released, and the bald mage, along with two abominations, seemed to force a demon into the first mage's body. A forced possession… 

She felt Alistair's hand on her shoulder, and the concerned look he gave her made her think she'd gone pale. She took a few quiet, steadying breaths before climbing the rest of the stairs.

"Ah… look what we have here," the bald mage said. This had to be Uldred. "An intruder. I bid you welcome. Care to join in our… revels?"

"I think I'll just kill you, if that's alright with you," Elyssa spat darkly. She'd seen this man force a demon into another person, force another mage to become an abomination. She wasn't going to let him live.

"Fight, if you must," Uldred snarled. "It will just make my victory all the sweeter." Elyssa drew her blade.

"Don't forget the Litany," Wynne whispered. "It will thwart Uldred's attempts to control the mages and win this fight for us." Elyssa nodded. She knew Wynne and Leliana were going to step back, to keep their distance and use their ranged weapons while she and Alistair were in close range. 

The fight was over pretty quickly, and the first enchanter was still alive at the end of it all.

"You must be Irving," Elyssa said as she walked over. She offered a hand to him. "Let me help you."

"Maker, I'm too old for this," he muttered, taking her hand. Elyssa helped Irving to his feet as her companions made their way over.

"Irving! Are you alright?" Wynne asked.

"I've… ngh… been better," he groaned. "But I am thankful to be alive. I suppose that is your doing, isn't it, Wynne?"

"I wasn't alone," Wynne responded, and Elyssa could hear the old woman's smile. "I had help."

"The Circle owes both of you a debt we will never be able to repay," Irving said to them. "Come, the templars await. We shall let them know that the tower is once again ours." 

"Very well, lead on," Elyssa told him. 

"I'll need you to guide me down the stairs…" he admitted slowly. "Ah, curse whoever insisted the Circle be housed in a tower."  
______________________________________

"Irving?" Greagoir said as the doors on the first level opened. "Maker's breath, I did not expect to see you alive."

"It is over, Greagoir," Irving said. "Uldred… is dead." 

"Uldred tortured these mages, hoping to break their wills and turn them into abominations," said the templar who had been trapped outside the Harrowing Chamber. Elyssa had learned on the trip back down that his name was Cullen, and he had only been a templar for a few years. "We don't know how many of them have turned." 

"What? Don't be ridiculous!" Irving protested.

"Of course he'll say that!" Cullen argued. "He might be a blood mage! Don't you know what they did? I won't let this happen again!"

"I am the knight-commander here, not you" Greagoir said sternly.

"What does the knight-commander think, then?" Elyssa asked. If he was truly the one in charge of the Circle, then she would listen to his ruling.

"We have won back the tower," Greagoir said. "I will accept Irving's assurance that all is well."

"But they may have demons within them, lying dormant… lying in wait!" Cullen continued protesting. Elyssa realized that he reminded her of herself, before Ostagar. Her intense desire for revenge against Rendon Howe had only cooled somewhat in recent days because of the need to end the Blight before taking back her home. 

"Enough!" the knight-commander said sternly. "I have already made my decision." He turned to Elyssa and the others. "Thank you. You have proven yourself a friend of both the Circle, and the templars."

"It had to be done," Elyssa responded. That was the truth. If the demons had broken out of the tower, it could have caused even more disaster across Ferelden.

"I promised you aid, but with the Circle restored, my duty is to watch the mages," Greagoir said to her. "They are free to help you, however. Speak to them." 

"And what will the templars do?" Elyssa asked curiously. 

"For now, I will have to oversee a sweep of the tower," Greagoir explained. "There may be some survivors, and we should do our best to tend to them. Please excuse me. And Irving… it is good to have you back."

"Ah, I'm sure we'll be at each other's throats again in no time," Irving said good-naturedly. Elyssa was reminded of her own teacher, Brother Aldous, when she looked at Irving. It made her a bit sad, but not overly so anymore. Maybe she was finally beginning to heal. 

"Here we are, the tower in disarray, the Circle nearly annihilated… though it could have been much, much worse," he said when he looked at her. "I am glad you arrived when you did. It's almost as though the Maker Himself sent you."

"I'm glad I could help," Elyssa said honestly. Too many innocent people were already dying because of the darkspawn and Loghain both. 

"From what Greagoir said, it seems you came here seeking allies," Irving remembered. The least we can do is help you against the darkspawn. I would hate to survive this only to be overcome by the Blight."

"What about the tower?" Elyssa asked. "Don't you have to stay here?"

"We will do what we can for now, but if the Blight spreads, the tower itself will be lost," Irving reminded her. "Stopping the Blight is more important." She nodded. "You have my word, as first enchanter. The Circle will join the Grey Wardens in the fight." 

"Irving, I have a request," Wynne spoke up. "I seek leave to follow the Grey Warden."

"Wynne… we need you here," Irving protested softly. "The Circle needs you."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Irving, but the Circle will do fine without me," Wynne said with a smile. "The Circle has you. This woman is brave and good, and capable of great things. If she will accept my help, I will help her accomplish her goals."

"I would be honored to have you join me, Wynne," Elyssa said, if a bit formally. 

"You were never one to stay in the tower when there was adventure to be had elsewhere," Irving admitted. 

"Why stay when I can be of service elsewhere?" Wynne asked. It was a question without need for an answer.

"Then, I give you leave to follow the Grey Warden," Irving told her, "but know that you always have a place here." He looked back at Elyssa. "There is much to be done here, and I must go. You must forgive me for not being a proper host."

"I understand," Elyssa assured him. "Till we meet again."

"When the time comes, we will stand beside you," he said again before walking off through the large doors again.


	27. More Camp Talk

They had set up the camp for the night, off the shore of Lake Calenhad, when Sten came over to her. 

"The Blight--How will you end it?" he demanded from her.

"We have to fight the archdemon," she said simply.

"Is that all?" he asked disdainfully. "It is surrounded by an ocean of darkspawn. How will you reach it? If you reach it, how will you slay it? You say you are a Grey Warden. I have heard stories of this order."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Elyssa asked, getting to her feet from where she'd been sitting. 

"Great strategists and peerless warriors," he said, confusing her for a moment. "That is what we hear of the Wardens. So far I am not impressed."

"I'm not here to impress you," she said to him, narrowing her eyes.

"Evidently not," he agreed. "It remains only to see what you **are** here for." With that, he walked away. Elyssa watched him for a while before walking over to where Wynne was sitting by the fire. 

"Oh, it's been a long day," the old mage said. "Rest… rest would be welcome." 

"Are you alright?" Elyssa asked, a bit concerned.

"Yes… yes, of course," Wynne said, looking up from where she was sitting. "I am just a little… weary." Elyssa sat next to the mage. "As you may have noticed, I'm no spring chicken."

"No, you're a person," Elyssa countered.

"Hah… very funny," Wynne said with a tired laugh. "But in all honesty, I do not know how many years I have left in me. I have lived for such a long time. But there's always something else to do, and I have to keep going in order to do it. I think I will be glad when I am… done." 

"Hey, don't say those things," Elyssa said quietly. "We still need you." 

"Oh, no… I'm not the sort of person that leaves things unfinished," Wynne assured her. "I'll see this through. I promise." There was a lull in their conversation, and then Wynne spoke up again. "Have you encountered many abominations apart from the ones in the Circle Tower?" 

"No, the ones in the tower were the first I've ever seen," Elyssa admitted. 

"The first time I saw an abomination, my blood turned to ice," Wynne admitted. "It was months before the nightmares stopped. It was the knowledge that I could easily become one of them that frightened me the most."

"Seeing the monster you could be is unsettling, yes," Elyssa agreed. She'd seen what happened to people who became power-hungry, and there was more danger of her becoming someone like that than there was of her becoming an abomination. 

"One slip… all it takes is one slip, and everything you are is simply gone… replaced by madness." Wynne spoke slowly, looking into the flickering fire. "And there is no turning back. Or, at least, that's what they say."

"You have doubts?" Elyssa asked, curious.

"Of late, I have begun to wonder if… if there is any way an abomination can be… cured," Wynne said after a moment. "Or if a mage could be so possessed and still retain their sanity. Their humanity."

"If one retains one's humanity, one is not an abomination," Elyssa said thoughtfully. 

"Yes… it is madness and cruelty that define abominations," Wynne said with a nod. "If those things are lacking, if the mage remembers the person they truly are then… they are not an abomination." She looked over at Elyssa. "I never saw that. Thank you for showing me another way of looking at it." After another lull in the conversation, Wynne spoke up again.

"So, tell me, how did you become a Grey Warden?" she asked. Elyssa fell silent and looked away, unintentionally gazing off in Alistair's direction. 

"Arl Howe massacred my family," she said eventually. "Duncan helped me escape." 

"Arl Rendon Howe?" Wynne echoed, disbelieving. "The arl of Amaranthine? Why would he do such a thing to you?" 

"Out of jealousy?" Elyssa guessed. "He wanted Highever, my father's teyrnir."

"You are… you are the last of the Couslands?" the old mage said, surprised. "I had no idea… my lady."

"Howe will pay for what he's done to me," Elyssa swore, her eyes dark as she stared off into the distance. 

"Do not be blinded by your desire for revenge," Wynne reminded her gently. "Rendon Howe will get what he deserves, in time. Such deeds cannot go unpunished." She put a comforting hand on Elyssa's arm. "Take heart, dear friend. You survived, even when you were not expected to. We do not know yet what lies in store for you, or the name you carry. It is not so bad, is it, being a Grey Warden?"

"I will do my duty, but I won't forget what Howe did," she said after a short silence. She sighed and turned to look into the fire. 

"Sometimes it gives me comfort to think that everything will end up the way it's supposed to, that it will be alright." Elyssa looked at the old woman, her heart aching. "You were chosen; you survived the Joining when others did not. Perhaps it was meant to be."

"Perhaps," Elyssa muttered before she stood and walked off. She reached into her bag and pulled out the black leather-bound book she'd found in Irving's office, back in the Circle Tower. The others hadn't noticed her take it, and she was glad for that. But she couldn't make heads or tails of the strange words in the book. Perhaps Morrigan would better be able to understand it.

"What? You found Flemeth's grimoire?" Morrigan said, surprised, when Elyssa handed it over. "Ever since we discovered the condition of the mage's tower, I had wondered if it might be recoverable… but I had yet to speak of it to you. How fortunate that you found it on your own. You have my thanks. I will begin study of the tome immediately." 

"What do you hope to find within it?" Elyssa asked.

"Secrets," Morrigan responded. "My mother had many of them, and this tome represents the one time that they were able to get away from her." She seemed excited to study the book. "I do not intend to squander this opportunity to learn more than Flemeth wished me to know. This should be… interesting." Morrigan began leafing through the book, and so Elyssa decided to leave her be for the moment. 

"Something on your mind?" Alistair asked as she got closer.

"Can you… tell me about the Grey Wardens?" she asked. 

"Such as they are," he said with a small smirk.

"Where are the nearest Grey Wardens from here?" she asked first.

"That's a good question," he admitted. "There's plenty in Orlais, but who knows where they might be found. And the nearest Orlesian city is weeks away." He thought about it for a moment. "If we go north and cross the sea, there's bound to be some in the Free Marches. Again, however, I just don't know where. I don't know anything about Grey Wardens in other lands." 

"Oh, okay," Elyssa sighed. "I was thinking we could try contacting other Wardens, as a precaution, in case something happens to us."

"It is a good idea," Alistair agreed. "But, we don't know where to find other Wardens outside Ferelden." Elyssa nodded. She got on her knees before the fire, enjoying the warmth, watching the way the light flickered over the cleared patch of dirt.

"Why have you remained a templar if you hate the chantry?" she asked suddenly, catching him off-guard.

"Have you seen the uniform?" he asked after recovering. "It's not only stylish, but well-made. I'm a sucker for good tailoring." 

Tailoring? "I thought templars wore heavy plate, mostly," she confessed. 

"That's just in public. In private we have these yellow and purple tunics, right? Much more comfortable, and you don't break the beds when you jump on them during pillow fights." Okay, now he had to be joking. He sat down next to her. Neither of them were wearing their armor now, with Morrigan's magical barriers enhanced by Wynne's wards.

"You had lots of these pillow fights, I take it?" Elyssa questioned, going with it. Why not, right? They didn't get much time to talk during the day.

"On confession day we could go all night," Alistair continued. "Being a templar isn't all about chasing men in skirts and hiding behind priests, you know." He paused to look at her. "You don't really want to know about my being a templar, do you? It's really quite boring."

"Then make up something more exciting," she said, glancing at him with a small smile. "It's what I do whenever people ask about my boring childhood."

"You know, I like the way you think," he admitted with a laugh. "But I guess if you're really curious, there's no harm in obliging. I have a couple of interesting moles I can show you later, too, if you're interested." Elyssa raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. "The truth of the matter is that I did hate going to the monastery. The initiates from poor families thought I put on airs, while the noble ones called me a bastard and ignored me. I felt like Arl Eamon had cast me off, unwanted, and I was determined to be bitter. But I took some solace in the training itself, I guess. I was actually quite good at it."

"What did you enjoy about the training?" Elyssa asked. She wanted to get to know him more, but she still couldn't figure out why.

"The education, mostly, but also the discipline," he told her, poking at the fire with a stick that had been on the ground nearby. "You have to have a disciplined mind in order to use the abilities we have. It was difficult, but rewarding. I never really felt at home anywhere, though, until I joined the Grey Wardens. And Duncan felt my templar abilities might be useful for when we encountered darkspawn magic, so I kept it up." At the mention of their Grey Warden mentor, Elyssa's eyes went dark. "What about you? Do you have anywhere you consider home?" 

"I guess my home is with the Grey Wardens now," Elyssa said after a moment. "With… With you," she added, looking away, glad the firelight was hiding the blush in her cheeks. 

"Is it?" Alistair responded, surprised. "I… didn't know you felt that way." He paused, watching her. "We won't always be traveling like this, you know. Once the war is over, once the Blight is… well, a time will come when we'll have to think about having a real home again. Though that seems like a far ways off. And I suppose the Grey Wardens are gone for good, either way."

"They can be rebuilt," she reminded him. 

"I suppose you're right," he said with a nod, turning and watching the fire. "We can create new Grey Wardens, but we'll never get back those we lost. I wonder if it would ever feel the same? Anyhow, now I've sidetracked us," he said, tossing his stick into the fire and standing up. "We'd better get back to what we're supposed to be doing right now." 

Once they had finished eating, and some of the others had started retiring for the night, Elyssa came over to Alistair again. They were taking the first watch together tonight, and Leliana and Sten were to take it from them in a few hours.

"Hey, Alistair, what changes about you after the Joining?" Elyssa asked as she put another log onto the fire. 

"You mean, other than becoming a Grey Warden?" he countered.

"You've been a Grey Warden longer than I have," she said after a moment. 

"You know, I asked Duncan this, too, and all I got was, _You'll see_ ," he admitted.

"He wouldn't tell you?" 

"It's not that Duncan wants to keep it a secret," Alistair said quickly. "It's just that the Grey Wardens don't discuss it much. I gather it's not a pleasant topic." He fell silent for a moment, thinking. "The first change I noticed was an increase in appetite. I used to get up in the middle of the night and raid the castle larder. I thought I was starving," he added with a laugh. "I'd slurp down every dinner like it was my last, my face all covered in gravy. When I'd look up, the other Grey Wardens would stare… then laugh themselves to tears." He laughed again at the memory. 

"I haven't felt anything like that," Elyssa said dismissively.

"Really? Because I was watching you wolf down food the other day and I thought, _it's a good thing she gets a lot of exercise._ " 

She walked over and playfully punched him in the arm. "What can I say? I'm a growing girl," she said with a grin. 

"I'll say! Uh… I didn't mean it like that," he added quickly. Elyssa snapped around and shot him a glare. "D-don't hit me, I bruise easy!" he said, throwing his hands up over his face. Elyssa looked at him and broke down laughing. Alistair fell silent, listening to it. This was the first time he'd heard her laugh, and he loved it. 

"Stop staring," Elyssa said after she'd recovered. 

"Sorry, I've just… never heard you laugh before," he admitted honestly. Elyssa looked away. When she didn't say anything, he continued what he'd been saying earlier. 

"Oh… and then there were the nightmares," he began, somewhat awkwardly. "Duncan said it was part of how we sense the darkspawn. We tap into their… Well, I don't know what you'd call it. Their _group mind_ , I guess. And when we sleep, its even worse. You learn to block it out after a while, but at first it's hard. It's supposed to be worse for those who Join during a Blight. How is it for you?" He cast a sidelong glance at her, but she was once again gazing into the fire. 

"Nightmares… yes, I know what you mean…" she muttered. 

"Some people never have much trouble, but that's rare," Alistair continued. "Others have trouble sleeping their entire life. They're just more sensitive, I suppose. Everyone ends up the same, though. Once you reach a certain age, the real nightmares come. That's how a Grey Warden knows his time has come."

"His time has come?" Elyssa echoed. 

"Oh, that's right. We never had the time to tell you that part, did we? Well, in addition to all the other wonderful things about being a Grey Warden, you don't need to worry about dying from old age," he said in his usual joking tone. "You've got thirty years to live. Give or take." She turned and looked at him, eyes wide. "The taint… it's a death sentence. Ultimately your body won't be able to take it. When the time comes, most Grey Wardens go to Orzammar and die in battle rather than… waiting. It's tradition." 

"So, I'm going to die," Elyssa sighed, turning back to the fire. She'd joined the Wardens so she could live, not to die…

"We're all going to die," Alistair reminded her. "When Duncan told me, I was **angry**. He put his hand on my shoulder and said this: _It's not how you die that's important, it's how you live._ " Those words resonated within her, more than Alistair realized at the time. "And you wonder why we keep the Joining a secret from new recruits! There you have it."

"It seems a high price to pay," Elyssa said quietly.

"I suppose it is," Alistair agreed, watching her. "We're the only ones who can stop the Blight, however. Is there a price too high to pay for that?" Elyssa shook her head slowly. "You know, Duncan… he started having the nightmares again. He told me that--in private. He said it wouldn't be long before he'd go to Orzammar himself." Elyssa's eyes darkened again. They'd been doing that every time he mentioned Duncan tonight. Maybe something had happened in the Fade, before she'd found him. "I guess he got what he wanted. I just wish it had been something worthy of him."

"He will be remembered, Alistair, as will the others," Elyssa assured him.

"I know," he said. "Ending the Blight… should make this all worthwhile, right?" Elyssa nodded. Alistair fell silent, watching her. "Are you alright? Ever since the Circle, you've seemed kind of down. Every time I mention Duncan, you tense up." Elyssa sighed. 

"I saw everyone else's nightmares in the Fade," she began. "But… You don't know what that demon showed me." She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. "I was in Weisshaupt… With Duncan." And suddenly, everything made sense. He didn't hesitate this time when she started crying; he pulled her close and held her in his arms. He let her cry. She was such a strong girl, trying to bear all of this alone…

She sniffed and pushed lightly on his chest, and he released her. She looked up at him, face blotchy and eyes puffy. And then she said something that caught him off-guard completely.

"Has anyone ever told you how handsome you are?" she asked him softly, her hand still resting on his chest. 

"Not unless they were asking me for a favor," he said to her. "Well, there was that one time in Denerim, but those women were… not like you." He looked down at her. "Why? Is this your way of telling me you think I'm handsome?" 

"And if it is?" she asked. "What then?"

"Oh, nothing much," he said with a goofy smile on his face. "I just get to grin a bit and look foolish for a while." He didn't think it was possible, but Elyssa's face got even redder. 

"We're here to take the next guard shift," Leliana called. Elyssa quickly walked away, into the tent. "What happened to her?" she asked, looking at Alistair. "What happened to you?" she asked him. She didn't get an answer, though, as Alistair returned to his own tent. 

When they were breaking camp the next morning, whenever Alistair caught Elyssa looking at him, she would blush bright red before running off to do some task or other. It was refreshing for him, and Wynne, who remembered what she was like at Ostagar. And Alistair found that he couldn't stop grinning when he saw her blushing like that.


	28. Redcliffe Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What, you think you know all about how she helped save Redcliffe Village? Yeah, well, the stories told about a friend of mine claim that she slew a horde of dragons on her own, so you can't trust every story you hear.

Their next destination was supposed to be Redcliffe Village, which wasn't even that far away from where they had camped the previous night. Elyssa found herself talking to Alistair for a lot of the trip. After thoroughly embarrassing herself in front of him the previous night, she had fewer reservations about what she would say to him. 

"So, if you were raised in the Chantry, have you never…?" she asked him as they stopped to eat. She was certainly more outgoing now than she had been, and the others noticed this. However, she and Alistair were given a bit of space to themselves this afternoon. 

"Never…? Never what? Had a good pair of shoes?" he countered in his usual joking tone. She blushed slightly, and he enjoyed it.

"You know what I mean," she said, turning away.

"I'm not sure I do," he said, maintaining the joking tone. "Have I never seen a basilisk? Ate jellied ham? Have I never licked a lamppost in winter?"

"Now you're making fun of me," she huffed, but there was a light in her eyes that said she wasn't really mad.

"Make fun of you, dear lady? Perish the thought," he said, grinning. "Well, tell me: have **you** ever licked a lamppost in winter?" She looked at him, still blushing. 

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she said, blushing even brighter now.

"Oh, so **that's** what we're talking about," he said, as if finally understanding something. "I admit I've never had a woman just… come out and ask me like this, that's for sure. I, myself, have never had the pleasure. Not that I haven't thought about it, of course, but… you know." 

"You've never had the opportunity?" she guessed. He had been raised in the Chantry after all. 

"Well, living in the Chantry is… not exactly a life for rambunctious boys," he said, confirming her suspicions. "They taught me to be a gentleman, especially in the presence of beautiful women such as yourself. That's not bad, is it?"

"You… think I'm beautiful…?" Elyssa asked hesitantly.

"Of course you are, and you know it," he said. "You're ravishing, resourceful, and all those other things you'd probably hurt me for not saying." 

"I would never hurt you," Elyssa assured him quickly.

"Nor I you," he responded. A grin reappeared on his face. "Let us be off, then, lest your risque talk make my ears blush." That drew a laugh out of Elyssa, which caught everyone else's attention. None of them had been awake the last time, after all. 

Alistair stopped her again, just outside of Redcliffe, a serious expression on his face this time.

"Look, can we talk for a moment?" he asked. "I need to tell you something I, ah, should probably have told you earlier."

"What's on your mind?" Elyssa asked gently. 

"I told you before how Arl Eamon raised me, right? That my mother was a serving girl at the castle and he took me in?" Elyssa nodded. "The reason he did that was because… well, because my father was King Maric. Which made Cailan my… half-brother, I suppose."

"So… you're not just a bastard, but a royal bastard?" Elyssa said, half-joking, as a way to try to make Alistair cheer up a bit. 

"Ha! Yes, I guess it does at that," he laughed. "I should use that line more often." He sighed. "I would have told you but… it never really meant anything to me. I was inconvenient, a possible threat to Cailan's rule, and so they kept me secret. I've never talked about it to anyone. Everyone who knew either resented me for it or they coddled me… even Duncan kept me out of the fighting because of it. I didn't want you to know, as long as possible. I'm sorry."

Elyssa shook her head, smiling softly at him. Then a thought occurred to her. "Does Loghain know?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't he?" Alistair asked darkly. "He was King Maric's best friend. I don't know if that means anything, though… I certainly never considered the idea that it might ever be important. At any rate, that's it. That's what I had to tell you. I thought you should know about it." 

"Why tell me, then?" Elyssa asked softly. "Why do I need to know?"

"Because it will probably come up," he admitted. "I didn't want to walk into Redcliffe without you knowing the truth, that would be just… awkward. I have no illusions about my status, however. It's always been made very clear that I'm a commoner and now a Grey Warden and in no way in line for the throne." He sighed again. "And that's fine by me. No, if there's an heir to be found, it's Arl Eamon himself. He's not of royal blood, but he is Cailan's uncle… and more importantly, very popular with the people. Though… if he's really as sick as we've heard… no, I don't want to think about that. I really don't." He met Elyssa's eyes for a moment.

"So, there you have it. Now can we move on, and I'll just pretend you still think I'm some… nobody who was too lucky to die with the rest of the Grey Wardens."

Elyssa averted her gaze. "That's not really what you think… Is it?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well… no," he admitted, gently taking her hand in his. "What I really think is that I was lucky enough to survive with you." He turned away and started walking off at that, and her hand fell back to her side. Elyssa watched him for a moment, her heart aching. When had she started caring so much for Alistair, anyway?

They crossed a bridge and were stopped by a man with a bow. He looked like an ordinary villager. 

"I thought I saw travelers coming down the road, though I scarcely believed it," the villager admitted. "Have you come to help us?"

"What do you mean?" Elyssa asked. "Is there a problem?"

"So you… you don't know? Has nobody out there heard?"

"What are you talking about?" Elyssa asked again. "Heard what?"

"We're under attack," the man explained. "Monsters come out of the castle every night and attack us until dawn. Everyone's been fighting… and dying. We've no army to defend us, no arl and no king to send us help. So many are dead, and those left are terrified they're next."

"Hold on, what is this evil that's attacking you?" Alistair asked calmly.

"I… I don't rightly know," the man admitted. "I'm sorry. Nobody does. I should take you to Bann Teagan. He's all that's holding us together. He'll want to see you."

"Bann Teagan?" Alistair echoed. "Arl Eamon's brother? He's here?"

"Yes," the villager confirmed. "It's not far, if you'll come with me." 

_Well, I was going to have to talk to the nobility again eventually,_ Elyssa thought with a quiet sigh as they followed the man through the village and into the chantry. There were so many people in the chantry, it made more real what they were facing. The villager led them to a man who was at the other end of the chantry.

"It's… Tomas, yes?" the older man asked. "And who are these people with you? They're obviously not simple travelers."

"No, my lord," the man, called Tomas, responded formally. "They just arrived, and I thought you would want to see them."

"Well done Tomas," the man said. "Greetings, friends. My name is Teagan, Bann of Rainesfere, brother to the arl."

"I remember you, Bann Teagan," Alistair said after a moment. "Though the last time we met I was a lot younger and… covered in mud." That mental image was a funny one. 

"Covered in mud…?" Teagan echoed, confused. Then realization flashed across his face. "Alistair? It is you, isn't it? You're alive! This is wonderful news!" 

"Still alive, yes, though I'm just as surprised about that as you are, believe me," Alistair admitted. 

"Indeed. Loghain would have us believe that all Grey Wardens died along with my nephew, amongst other things," Teagan informed them. 

"No, not all of us died," Elyssa said with a small nod. 

"So… you are a Grey Warden as well?" Teagan asked, looking her over thoughtfully. "Is it possible we've met? You seem very familiar."

"You may have known my father," Elyssa said, averting her gaze. "Teyrn Cousland."

"Ah, yes, that's it exactly," Teagan responded with a nod. "A pleasure to meet you indeed, though I wish it were under better circumstances. You are here to see my brother? Unfortunately, that might be a problem. Eamon is gravely ill. No one has heard from the castle in days. No guards patrol the walls, and no one has responded to my shouts. The attacks started a few nights ago. Evil… things… surged from the castle. We drove them back, but many perished during the assault. 

"I can help you drive them back," Elyssa said after a moment, and a quick glance at her companions. 

"Thank you!" Teagan said, sounding relieved. "Thank you, this… means more to me than you can guess." He turned to the villager, who was still standing nearby. "Tomas, please tell Murdock what transpired, then return to your post." 

"Yes, my lord," Tomas said before walking off.

"Now then, there is much to do before night falls," Teagan said to Elyssa. "I've put two men in charge of the defense outside. Murdock, the village mayor, is outside the chantry. Ser Perth, one of Eamon's knights, is just up the cliff at the windmill, watching the castle. You may discuss with them the preparations for the coming battle." Elyssa nodded.

"I will be on my way then," she said to Teagan. 

"Very well. Luck be with you, my friend." Teagan said. Elyssa and companions turned and walked toward the door, only to be stopped by a girl who asked them to look for her brother. He was found in a nearby house, hiding in the closet.

"So you're the Grey Warden, are you?" a man with a gravely voice asked as they approached. This must be Murdock. "I didn't think they made women Grey Wardens."

"Why would you think that?" Elyssa asked carefully. What was it with everyone being surprised that a woman could join the Wardens?

"For more reasons than you'd care to hear, I bet. Still, there's no reason to think Bann Teagan's lost his mind," the man said. Elyssa sighed. "We aren't going to turn aside anyone who wants to help though. Don't take me for being an ingrate or nothing."

"Well, we do want to help however we can," Alistair said. "You can trust us."

"Name's Murdock, mayor of what's left of the village--providing we aren't all killed and hauled off to the castle tonight."

_Not if I can help it. I can't afford to die here,_ Elyssa reminded herself. She still had to slay the archdemon. And then it would be Arl Howe's turn. "You can call me Elyssa," was all she said.

"Fair enough. What can I do for you?" 

"What can I do to help?" she asked.

"We need what little armor and weapons we got repaired, and quickly, or half of us will be fighting without either," he informed her. "Owen's the only blacksmith who can do it, but the stubborn fool refuses to even talk. If we're to be ready for tonight, we'll need that crotchety bastard's help."

"I'll see what I can do," Elyssa said with a nod.

"I'd appreciate it," Murdock said to her. "If he doesn't help, he'll die like the rest of us. What good will that do anyone then?" 

Elyssa went over to the door Murdock had pointed out as the blacksmith's, but the door was locked. 

"Go away, curse you!" a voice called through the door. "Leave me in peace! You've already taken everything out of my stores! There's nothing left!" 

_Well, at least he's talking_ Elyssa told herself. "Is this Owen, the blacksmith?" she asked instead. "I need to speak with you."

"Oh? Who is that?" the voice asked, sounding curious. "What do you want? I've been through enough…" She could hear the pain in the man's voice.

"I'd prefer not to speak through a door," Elyssa called back to him. "Can I come in?"

"Hmm… Alright, alright, let me undo the locks," he responded to her after a moment. "All I ask is that you don't make any trouble." Elyssa heard the clicking sound of a lock being turned, and the group went inside.

"Maker's breath!" Leliana exclaimed. "What is that smell? It's like someone set a brewery on fire!" The air inside the house was thick with the smell of alcohol. Elyssa coughed a few times as the scent pressed against her.

"Somebody's been drinking," Alistair said quietly, in a sing-song voice that was usually reserved for speaking to young children.

"So I let you in," Owen said defensively. "You wanted to talk; now we're talking. Mind telling me who you are?"

"My name is Elyssa," she told him. "I'm a Grey Warden helping Bann Teagan."

"A Grey Warden is it?" he echoed. "It takes all kinds." His laugh was bitter, and all it did was serve to strengthen the stench of alcohol in the air. "Anyhow, my name's Owen… though you might already know that. Care to join me as I get besotted? Or is there something in particular you wanted?" Elyssa fought the urge to step back as the man walked up to her. His breath was soaked with alcohol, it was disgusting.

"Why have you locked yourself in the smithy?" she asked, trying hard to avoid choking on the fumes.

"My girl, Valena, is one of the arlessa's maids and she's trapped up there in the castle, but the mayor won't send anyone for her," Owen told them. Elyssa knew the pain she heard in this man's voice. The longing to know that a beloved family member was safe. That was how she still felt about Fergus. "She's been my life since my wife passed on two years ago. Now she's dead or soon to be. I don't care what happens to me, or the village, or anyone." Elyssa realized this was how she could have been if Duncan hadn't recruited her. 

"Or you could work to help save her," she reminded him. 

"I'm an old man," he said. "Everyone knows we aren't making it through the night. Or are you going to save us?" 

"I intend to try," Elyssa assured him.

"Is that so?" he scoffed. Then he paused. "Maybe it's the drink talking, but you almost sound like you believe that. It'd do me a world of good to think maybe someone like you could go in and find her… provided any of us live through the night." 

"I'll do my best," she said. 

"Not good enough!" the man protested. "Murdock said the same damned thing and I didn't believe him either. I want a promise. Promise me that you'll look for her, that you'll bring her back to me, if you can." 

"I promise you: I'll find her."

"We will do our best," Wynne assured him. "Please believe us, friend."

"I'll except that," Owen conceded. "It's something to hope for at least. And I suppose there's no point in me sitting around, is there? Time to re-light the forge and get the smithy going, hey? Murdock'll be pleased. If you need anything done… well, just let me know. I've got a lot to do now, so you'll have to excuse me."

"The whole place reeks of alcohol," Elyssa muttered after the door closed behind them. "Are you sure he won't just set his place on fire?" Alistair shrugged. The group made their way back to Murdock. 

"Well, it looks like Owen's finally doing the repairs we need," Murdock observed, looking up at the smoke billowing from the chimney. "The damned fool is falling over drunk and still manages to make smithing look easy. Good enough I say. I'll send one of my men to inform Bann Teagan that the militia is ready for battle."

"We're not only ready, Murdock. We're going to win," Elyssa said to him. 

"I hope you're right," he said. "We may just be village folk, but we're going to fight like there's no tomorrow." 

"I still need to speak to Ser Perth," Elyssa remembered.

"You'll find him and his men at the mill by the bridge, to the north," Murdock said helpfully. "I have a good feeling about tonight." With that, Elyssa and companions climbed back up the hill toward the windmill. 

"Greetings, Grey Warden," Ser Perth said as they approached. "I am as relieved as Ban Teagan is to see you here. I must admit I do not know how quite to address you. Is 'my lady' sufficient?"

"Call me Grey Warden, for that is what I am," Elyssa told him. 

"Grey Warden it is, then, and thank you kindly." Elyssa was getting used to going unrecognized now. It was actually quite nice, being able to be nobody in a place like this. "I am Ser Perth, until recently in direct service of Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. For now, my charge is defending the village from these evil assaults. Would that I had chosen not to seek out the Urn of Sacred Ashes, perhaps I would have fended off whatever evil befell the castle… or perhaps I would be dead. Ah well. With a Grey Warden aiding our defense, perhaps all is not lost."

"Have you considered using the oil in the village store?" Elyssa asked. The look of surprise on Ser Perth's face told her that he had been unaware of the oil.

"No one told me of this," he said, confirming her suspicions. "Oil, you say? How much, exactly?" 

"Enough to set many monsters aflame," Elyssa responded, the determined glint once again back in her eyes. 

"Assuming that would hurt them…" he said thoughtfully. "Yes, I see what you have in mind. That might be effective if used carefully. Yes, excellent idea! I'll send some men to collect the oil. We'll use it to slow these creatures down. Have you anything else to ask me, in the meantime?"

"Is there anything I can do to help here?" Elyssa asked.

"We have sufficient armor and weapons, but my knights are too few to stand against the monsters without assistance," he admitted. "Perhaps you could approach Mother Hannah in the chantry for some holy protection against these evil creatures? Otherwise, I do not know what else you could provide beyond your own talents. We're as prepared for the onslaught as we could possibly be, all things considered."

"I'll see what I can do," Elyssa said with a nod, turning to walk back down to the chantry. Mother Hannah was in an alcove off the main hall, near where Teagan was waiting. 

"You are a stranger among us, yet you still agree to defend our village in its darkest hour," the woman said with a small smile. "We are most grateful to you."

"I cannot stand by while monsters attack the helpless," Elyssa told her.

"Not many in these modern days would honestly say the same," Mother Hannah admitted. "You are a woman of worth, and the Maker will smile upon you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Revered Mother Hannah, head of this chantry… which, for the moment, is a place of refuge for these poor villagers."

"Surely this cannot be the entire village?" Wynne asked, sounding concerned. "These few are all who are left?"

"All those who cannot defend themselves, yes," Mother Hannah sighed. "They are terrified of tonight's attack, and I fear these walls will not help keep them save. What can I do to help you with your task?"

"Ser Perth needs holy protection for the knights," Elyssa reported.

"I have done all I can for them," the revered mother said, sounding exasperated. "I pray for them, each night, and seek the Maker's forgiveness for their sins before they face their deaths. What Ser Perth seeks is something that is not in my power to give."

"What do you mean?"

"Ser Perth believes that I can protect them against these creatures, a shield only the Maker can provide, and that I withhold this power," the revered mother explained. 

"Well, can't you just tell him the Maker will watch over him?" Alistair asked. "Morale is a powerful thing, you know."

"You mean you want me to let them think the Maker protects them in a real sense?" Mother Hannah asked, shaking her head. "I will not lie to them like that!" 

"I… suppose you are right," Elyssa conceded after a moment.

"Indeed. I know Ser Perth means well, but I will not lie to him about something so important," the revered mother said again.

"I should go."

"May the Maker watch over you, child," the revered mother said before returning her attention to the children who were sitting near her. Elyssa made her way back outside. Murdock stopped her and asked her to try to convince a dwarf named Dwyn to fight with them, and she managed to do it after paying him. If it would get him out there, to put his skills to work defending the village, then it was worth it. They made their way once again up the hill to the windmill. Ser Perth seemed disappointed with the news that Mother Hannah could not offer anything more than prayers, but said they would right on anyway. She decided to make her stand first with the knights. Having Dwyn helping the militia outside the chantry would give them a better chance.


	29. Attack at Nightfall

Elyssa sat outside the windmill, using an old cloth to attempt to clean the shield she was always using. This was the Cousland family shield, and she was proud to bear it. Even better to bear it in defense of those who could not defend themselves. It was nearly dark now, and one of the other knights was watching the bridge.

"I remember what you said to Mother Hannah about defending the village," came a voice behind her. Elyssa didn't look up as Alistair sat next to her. "I just… Wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I will not sit by while monsters slaughter the innocent," Elyssa said again. "Whether they are magical or mundane matters little." She glanced over at him, then sighed. "It wasn't just my family that was killed that night Howe attacked Highever Castle… Lady Landra, Bann Loren's wife, and their son Dairren, were there as my mother's guests. And then there were all the servants and soldiers… So many people who had families to return to." She turned again to look out over the lake, at the castle. Alistair stayed silent, unsure of what to say. 

"I'm almost sure that my mother intended me to be wed to Dairren," Elyssa continued, speaking softly. "The first man I shared my bed with… And he was killed right before my eyes…" Alistair stayed quiet. Elyssa shook her head. "I don't know why I'm telling you this now… I guess it means… I trust you." She glanced over at him and gave him a small, sad smile. She put the rag down and returned the shield to its place on her back. She looked as if she wanted to say something more, but she found that she and Alistair kept getting closer. But Ser Perth's voice broke her out of the moment, and she stood and walked toward him. Alistair sat there for a minute longer before following.

They fought to defend the village entrance by the windmill, but after a while one of the militia game running up the hill, saying that the monsters were attacking from the lake as well. Elyssa glanced at the others, who simply nodded. She told the knights to stay and guard the path, while she, Alistair, Wynne, and Leliana made their way down to where the militia were stationed. And, soon enough, the sun rose again. The people gathered outside the chantry that morning, and Teagan spoke to them.

"Dawn arrives, and we survived the night," he said to them. "We are victorious! And though this victory came at great cost, we must remember none of us would be here were it not for the heroism of these good folk beside me." Teagan turned to Elyssa and her friends. "I thank you, dear lady. Truly, the Maker smiled on us when he sent you here in our darkest hour."

"I was happy to help defend the village," Elyssa said simply. 

"Let us bow our heads and give honor to those who gave their lives in defense of Redcliffe," Mother Hannah said, and began leading a prayer. 

"With the Maker's favor, the blow we delivered today is enough for me to enter the castle and seek out your arl," Teagan continued, turning again to face Redcliffe's people. "Be wary and watch for signs of renewed attack. We shall return with news as soon as we are able." The people dispersed, and Teagan turned again to Elyssa. "Now, we've no time to waste. Meet me at the mill. We can talk further there." Elyssa nodded, and Teagan walked off, up the hill. 

"Odd how quiet the castle looks from here," he said when she stood beside him. "You would think there was nobody inside at all. But I shouldn't delay any further. I had a plan… to enter the castle after the village was secure." He turned to look at her. "There is a secret passage here, in the mill, accessible only to my family."

"Why didn't you enter the castle in the first place?" Elyssa asked, a bit bewildered.

"I had no idea what lurked in the castle!" Teagan protested. "And I couldn't abandon the people of the village! What if-- Maker's breath!" He pointed behind the group, and they all turned as a woman came running over, accompanied by a single guard.

"Teagan!" she breathed. "Thank the Maker you yet live!"

"Isolde! You're alive!" Teagan exclaimed. "How did you…? What has happened?"

"I do not have much time to explain!" Isolde insisted. "I slipped away from the castle as soon as I saw the battle was over, and I must return quickly. And I… need you to return with me Teagan. Alone."

"We will need more of an explanation than that," Elyssa said warily. Maybe this was Lady Isolde, Arl Eamon's wife, but that didn't mean she was being truthful.

"What? I.. Who is this woman, Teagan?" Isolde asked, eyes narrowed. 

_You ask that like he's your husband,_ Elyssa observed silently. She was going to respond when she heard Alistair sigh.

"You remember me, Lady Isolde, don't you?" he asked, though he didn't sound like he wanted to.

"Alistair?" Well, that surprised her. "Of all the… why are **you** here?" Isolde asked, sounding disgusted. Elyssa narrowed her eyes at the Orlesian woman. Where she was from didn't matter, but hearing her talk down to Alistair was pissing Elyssa off.

"They are Grey Wardens, Isolde," Teagan explained. "I owe them my life." 

"Pardon me, I… I would exchange pleasantries, but… considering the circumstances…" Elyssa sighed, frustrated. Isolde's tone had changed quickly after Teagan spoke. 

"Please, Lady Isolde… we had no idea anyone was even alive within the castle," Alistair said quickly. "We must have some answers!"

"I know you need more of an explanation, but I… don't know what is safe to tell," Isolde said quickly, looking desperately at Teagan. "Teagan, there is a terrible evil within the castle. The dead waken and hunt the living. The mage responsible was caught, but still it continues." Her voice took on the same desperate tone that showed in her eyes. "And I think… Connor is going mad. We have survived but he won't flee the castle. He has seen so much death! You must help him Teagan! You are his uncle, you could reason with him. I do not know what else to do!"

"What about Arl Eamon?" Elyssa asked. "Is he still alive?"

"He is," she confirmed. "He is being kept alive so far, thank the Maker."

"Kept alive? Kept alive by what?" Teagan asked, sounding worried. 

"Something the mage unleashed," Isolde responded, rather unhelpfully. "So far it allows Eamon, Connor, and myself to live. The others… were not so fortunate. It's killed so many, and turned their bodies into walking nightmares! Once it was done with the castle, it struck the village. It wants us to live, but I do not know why. It allowed me to come for you, Teagan, because I begged, because I said Connor needed help."

"Do you think this evil could be some kind of demon?" Elyssa asked, thinking.

"I… I do not know. Oh, Maker's mercy! Could it truly be a demon?" Whoops. Isolde was even more panicked now than before. Alistair shot her a look that said _Did you really have to say that?_ and Elyssa responded with an apologetic look of her own. "I can't let it hurt my Connor! You must come back with me Teagan! Please!"

"Enough questions," Elyssa said sharply. "We need to decide what to do."

"The king is dead, and we need my brother, now more than ever," Teagan reminded them all. "I will return to the castle with you, Isolde."

"Oh, thank the Maker!" Isolde responded, breathlessly relieved. "Bless you Teagan! Bless you!"

"It seems you have little choice," Elyssa sighed. 

"I have no illusions of dealing with this evil alone," Teagan said, turning to her. "You, on the other hand, have proven quite formidable. Isolde, can you excuse us for a moment? We must confer in private before I return to the castle with you." 

"Please do not take too long!" Isolde answered quickly. "I will be by the bridge." With that, she and her guard were off. 

"Here's what I propose," Teagan said quickly once Isolde was out of earshot. "I go in with Isolde, and you enter the castle using the secret passage. My signet ring unlocks the door. Perhaps I will… distract whatever evil is inside and increase your chances of getting in unnoticed. What do you say?"

"I can't let you do this, it's insane," Elyssa muttered softly. Teagan was very brave for what he was proposing, but what if something went wrong?

"What choice do either of us have?" he asked harshly. Elyssa winced at the bite in his words. Teagan reminded her of her father. "If your business with Eamon is important, you're going to have to go inside and find him."

"He's right," Alistair said. "Without Arl Eamon, we'll never get the support we need." Elyssa sighed. Why did this involve putting so many people at risk? Why couldn't everyone just cooperate and get along?

"Ser Perth and his men can watch for danger at the castle entrance," Teagan continued, his voice more normal again. "If you can open the gates from within, they can move in and help you. I don't think there's anyone else who can help you. If you choose not to go, then its up to me to do what I can." He held out his hand, and in his palm was a surprisingly simple ring. "Here is my signet ring. It will open the lock on the door in the mill. Whatever you do, Eamon is the priority here. If you have to, just get him out of here. Isolde, me, and anyone else… we're expendable." Elyssa blanched, eyes widening in disbelief. 

"I don't believe that!" she said vehemently. "I **will** rescue you all; I promise!" The extreme emotion in her voice caught her friends by surprise. None of them had heard her use such a tone before. Alistair, though, he understood why she felt so strongly. 

"You're a good woman," Teagan said kindly. "The Maker smiled on me indeed when He sent you to Redcliffe."

"So we are just going to send him with that woman?" Leliana objected. "It seems so dangerous!"

"But I can delay no longer," Teagan said before anyone could respond. "Allow me to bid you farewell… and good luck." He turned and walked over toward the bridge, where Isolde was waiting. Elyssa sighed and looked out at the castle. They had fought undead during the night, and the arlessa had said that there were more in the castle. It had to be the work of a demon. But could it really have been the work of the mage that Isolde had mentioned? Elyssa shook her head, wishing she'd asked more questions. Alistair gave her a weird look, but stayed silent as he followed her through the secret passage under the mill.


	30. Redcliffe Castle

In the dungeons, after dealing with a few skeletons, they found the mage in question. He'd been locked in a cell, and was probably in the safest place he could be during this whole thing. 

"Wait, you don't look like the arlessa's guards," the mage observed as Elyssa came closer. "Are you from outside the castle?"

"Are you the mage Lady Isolde mentioned?" Elyssa asked, though she was positive he was. 

"You've spoken to her?" he asked, surprised. "Then you know what I did." 

"No, I didn't ask," Elyssa admitted. 

"I see. Then perhaps some explanation is in order," he offered. "My name is Jowan. I'm a mage Lady Isolde hired to tutor her son, Connor. Until they, ah, threw me into the dungeon here."

"Lady Isolde mentioned that a mage was behind all this," Elyssa remembered. 

"No!" Jowan protested. "I… I poisoned Arl Eamon, but that's all I did." Elyssa's eyes narrowed and hardened into a sharp glare. "I… I know it looks suspicious, but I'm not responsible for the creatures and the killings in the castle. I was already imprisoned when all that began. At first, Lady Isolde came here with her men demanding that I reverse what I'd done. I thought she meant my poisoning of the arl. That's the first I'd heard about the walking corpses. She thought I'd summoned a demon to torment her family and destroy Redcliffe." Jowan had started pacing around the small cell. "She.. Had me tortured. There was nothing I could do or say that would appease her. So they… left me to rot."

"Why did the arlessa hire you to tutor her son?" Elyssa asked. That was going to be the first clue to help put the puzzle together.

"Lady Isolde was looking for a mage to tutor Connor, secretly. Teyrn Loghain found out and he… sent me," the mage explained. "I was to use the opportunity to poison the arl. I was told that Arl Eamon was a threat to Ferelden, that if I dealt with him Loghain would settle matters with the Circle. You see, I'm a maleficar: a blood mage," he admitted. 

"A blood mage! Well **that** isn't good," Alistair muttered. 

"Ah, I thought you looked familiar," Wynne said slowly. "I had thought you… dead. Hunted down by the templars." 

"I guess you might have been told that," Jowan said with a sigh. "I was in hiding when I was caught, but instead of killing me, Loghain made me an offer. But he's abandoned me here, hasn't he? Everything's fallen apart, and I'm responsible! I have to make it right somehow, I have to!" 

"But why did the arlessa need a mage to tutor her son?" Elyssa asked again.

"Connor had started to show… signs," he explained. "Lady Isolde was terrified the Circle of Magi would take him away for training."

"Connor? A mage? I can't believe it!" Alistair objected. 

"She sought an apostate, a mage outside the Circle, to teach her son in secret so he could learn to hide his talent," Jowan continued. "Her husband had no idea."

"Perhaps her son is responsible for what happened," Elyssa pondered. She hated the thought of the boy being an abomination. And, for a moment, Oren's face flashed before her eyes.

"I thought that too," Jowan agreed. "Connor has little knowledge of magic, but he may have done something to tear open the Veil. With the Veil to the Fade torn, spirits and demons could infiltrate the castle. Powerful ones could kill and create those walking corpses."

"I see… I think I understand…" Elyssa said quietly. She heard the shakiness of her voice, and took a deep breath to steady herself. 

"I never meant for it to end like this, I swear," the mage insisted. "Let me help you fix this." 

"He wishes to redeem himself… doesn't everyone deserve that chance?" Leliana asked. Elyssa was glaring at the mage again. 

"Jowan has good intentions, but… a blood mage?" Wynne objected. "I… I find it difficult to trust his words."

"I don't know," Alistair admitted. "He is a blood mage… but this is an unusual situation."

"You're the one who started all this!" Elyssa said darkly. "Why should I believe you? How will you make things right?"

"I'd… well, I'd try to save anyone still up there," Jowan said. "There must be something I can do." 

"And after that, what happens?" Elyssa asked, still glaring. 

"Afterwards?" he echoed. "I assume I'll be arrested. Or executed. Or… whatever people like me get. I'm tired of running from the Circle. I need to account for what I've done."

Elyssa closed her eyes, her hands balled into fists. She shook her head, opening her eyes again and looking at the man through the barred door. "That's commendable, if it's true," she finally said. 

"I'm glad you think so," he said genuinely. "So, what now?"

"You're the one who caused all this," Elyssa said, shaking her head again. "I think you'll stay in your cell for now." Her fists were trembling slightly, and the anger had not left her eyes. 

"Then I will wait," he said, determined. "If you change your mind, I will be here." Elyssa turned away and left him there. If he was there, he couldn't cause any more trouble at least. The stairs at the end of the dungeons led them up to the main floor. In one of the little rooms off the hallway, they found the smith's daughter Valena, and sent her back to the village through the tunnel in the dungeon. Elyssa made a mental note to go back and check on them later, to make sure the girl had gotten home safely.

With the door to the main hall locked, the group had to find a way around. And so they did, clearing out all the walking corpses they found along the way. Though it involved going down through the cellar and out into the courtyard. Ser Perth and his men joined them in the courtyard once the gate had been opened, and together they went into the main hall. 

They were met by an odd sight. Bann Teagan was… dancing, or something, but there was no music. Arlessa Isolde had a worried look on her face, and standing next to her was a boy. Elyssa felt her heart clench when she realized that this boy was about the same age as her brother's son had been. 

"So these are our visitors?" the boy said, in a voice that was impossibly deep for one of such a young age. "The ones you told me about, Mother?" Mother? Then, the boy was…

"Y-yes, Connor," Isolde said carefully. Her voice trembled, as if she were trying to hold back her fear. 

"And this is the one who defeated my soldiers? The ones I sent to reclaim my village?" the boy asked. 

"Yes," the arlessa confirmed.

"And now it's staring at me! What is it, Mother? I can't see it well enough." Elyssa's eyes narrowed. Something was definitely wrong with this boy. A glance at her companions told her that they felt the same.

"This… this is a woman, Connor," Isolde explained, trying to keep her voice even. "Just as I am…" 

"You lie!" he accused. "This woman is nothing at all like you! Why, just look at her! Half your age, and pretty too. I'm surprised you don't order her executed in a fit of jealousy!" 

Okay, when did children start getting away with talking to their parents like that? 

"C-Connor, I beg you, don't hurt anyone!" The arlessa's voice screamed desperation. Connor put a hand on his forehead, a pained look on his face.

"M-Mother?" he asked, his voice higher and more natural. "What… what's happening? Where am I?" Elyssa's eyes widened in realization. There was a demon at work here… And it was working _through_ Connor! No… There was only one way to rid a person of demonic possession…

"Oh, thank the Maker!" Isolde breathed. "Connor! Connor, can you hear me?"

"Get away from me, fool woman!" he spat, his voice deep and dark again. "You are beginning to bore me." 

"Maker's breath, what has happened here?" Ser Perth asked finally. 

"Grey Warden… please don't hurt my son!" Isolde begged. "He's not responsible for what he does!"

"So **he** is the evil force you spoke of…" Elyssa said quietly. 

"No, don't say that!" Isolde insisted. The sound of her voice cut through Elyssa's heart, and she hated it. She hated the memories the sound of this mother's desperation brought up. The sight of her own mother, standing in the larder doorway. Of her father, dying on the floor. "Connor didn't mean to do this!" the arlessa continued, breaking through Elyssa's momentary lapse in concentration. "It was that mage, the one who poisoned Eamon. He started this! He summoned this demon! Connor was just trying to help his father!" 

"It was a fair deal!" the boy spoke up. "Father is alive, just as I wanted. Now it's my turn to sit on the throne and send out armies to conquer the world! Nobody tells me what to do anymore!" 

"Nobody tells him what to do!" Teagan laughed. "Nobody!" Something was off about him too. Most likely the demon's influence. 

"Quiet, Uncle," the boy demanded, sounding irritated. "I warned you what would happen if you kept shouting, didn't I? Yes, I did." The boy turned back to face Elyssa and her companions. "But let's keep things civil. This woman will have the audience she seeks. Tell us, woman… what have you come here for?"

"I came here to help, if I could," Elyssa said honestly. She was glad to hear that her voice was even, despite the turmoil she was feeling. 

"To help me? To help Father? To help yourself? Which?" he demanded. 

"To help the people you've terrorized," Elyssa said. 

"I was just having fun!" the boy insisted. "Everyone else had fun too! Are you having fun, Uncle?"

"Marmalade!" Teagan laughed. 

"You see?" Connor laughed. "We're having fun! I think you're just trying to spoil things. What do you think, Mother? I think it's threatening me."

"I… I don't think…"

"Of course you don't! Ever since you sent the knights away, you do nothing but deprive me of my fun," the boy accused. "Frankly, it's getting dull. I crave excitement! And action! This woman spoiled my sport by saving that stupid village, and now she'll repay me!" He ran off, and the guards in the room drew their weapons. Elyssa watched as Teagan stood and drew his sword as well. She looked over at Wynne, who nodded and muttered a quick spell that would keep their weapons from causing serious injury to the guards, and then they were forced to defend themselves. 

"Teagan! Teagan, are you alright?" Isolde asked, helping the bann to his feet.

"I am… better now, I think," Teagan said slowly. "My mind is my own again." He definitely sounded better than he had before. 

"Blessed Andraste, I never would have forgiven myself had you died, not after I brought you here. What a fool I am!" Elyssa felt a deep sadness in her heart at the desperate look in Isolde's eyes. "Please! Connor's not responsible for this! There must be some way we can save him!"

"I see no way this can end happily," Elyssa admitted hesitantly.

"I do not know if we can save him," Teagan agreed sadly. "Demons do not listen to reason."

"He is not always the demon you saw," Isolde insisted. "Connor is still inside him, and sometimes he breaks through. Please, I just want to protect him!" 

"Isn't that what started this?" Teagan reminded her. "You hired the mage to teach Connor in secret… to protect him."

"If they discovered Connor had magic, then they'd take him away! I thought if he learned just enough to hide it, then…"

"What are our options?" Elyssa asked, trying desperately to keep her voice even. No way was she going to allow herself to break down here, when she needed to be strong. She would wait until she could be alone before she could allow herself to cry again.

"I wouldn't normally suggest slaying a child, but… he's an abomination. I'm not sure there's any choice," Alistair admitted sadly.

"We can't kill a young boy, demon or no demon," Leliana insisted. "Please don't say we're considering that!" 

"I do not like the idea of hurting the boy, but…" Wynne's voice faded away, the sentence finished by the situation.

"Connor is my nephew, but… he is also possessed by a demon," Teagan said after the others had voiced their opinions. "Death would be… merciful." 

"No! What… what about the mage?" Isolde asked quickly. "He could know something of this demon! If he still lives, we could speak to him!" 

"He's down in the dungeon, still alive last I saw him." Elyssa remembered.

"Then we should bring him here immediately," the arlessa suggested. "I… I do not know how much we can trust him, but we must find out what he knows. Teagan, could you find him?"

"I… will try," Teagan conceded. "Though if he resists, I will not hesitate to kill him. I'll return shortly." Teagan left, and was back with Jowan within minutes.

"You're lucky to be alive Jowan, after all you've done," Isolde said acidly.

"I didn't summon any demon, Lady Isolde," he insisted. "But I did poison the arl… and that started all this. I'm… willing to help, if you'll let me." He turned to look over at Elyssa. "The demon in Connor needs to be destroyed. Killing Connor is… the easiest way to do that, certainly… But there is another way. A mage could confront the demon in the Fade, without hurting Connor himself."

"What do you mean? Is the demon not within Connor?" Teagan asked. He sounded just as confused as Elyssa felt. 

"Not physically," Jowan explained. "The demon approached Connor in the Fade while he dream, and controls him from there. We can use the connection between them to find the demon."

"You can enter the Fade then? And kill the demon without hurting my boy?" Isolde asked, hopeful. 

"No, but I can enable another mage to do so," Jowan continued. "It normally requires lyrium and several mages, but I have… blood magic."

"What difference does that make?" Elyssa asked, overlooking what blood magic meant for the moment.

"Lyrium provides the power for the ritual, but I can take that power from someone's life energy," he explained. "This ritual requires a lot of it, however. All of it, in fact."

"So… someone must die?" Teagan asked, echoing Elyssa's thoughts. "Someone must be sacrificed?"

"Yes, and then we send another mage into the Fade," Jowan confirmed. "I can't enter because I'm doing the ritual. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, it's… not much of an option…"

_A bit late for that, since you've already told us about it,_ Elyssa was tempted to say. Instead, she asked, "Is there no other method?"

"The power has to come from somewhere, and that means either lyrium or… blood."

"Then let it be my blood," Isolde spoke up quickly. "I will be the sacrifice."

"What? Isolde, are you mad?!" Teagan demanded. "Eamon would never allow this!"

"Either someone kills my son to destroy that thing inside him, or I give my life so my son can live. To me, the answer is clear." There was a familiar, determined look in Isolde's eyes. 

"Blood magic," Alistair said darkly. "How can more evil be of any help here? Two wrongs don't make a right."

"Can we even trust this Jowan to do as he promises?" Wynne asked, concerned. "Give him access to such power, and who knows what he shall do? I am uneasy."

"Connor is blameless in this," Isolde insisted again. "He should not have to pay the price."

"It… it's up to you, my friend," Teagan said, looking at Elyssa. "You know more about such things than I, and it's your companion going into the Fade. The decision is yours." Elyssa was silent for a while, thinking.

"There must be some other way to enter the Fade," she said finally, shaking her head. If there was a way to save everyone, as she had sworn to do…

"You can find lyrium and more mages at the Circle of Magi," Alistair reminded her. "If they would even do it."

"The Circle tower is not far from here, and they owe me," she said, making her decision.

"Indeed. It should not be difficult to get what is needed, provided we have the time," Wynne agreed.

"But what will happen here?" Isolde asked, sounding scared again. "Connor will not remain passive forever!"

"I will take that chance," Elyssa said quickly. 

"Very well. I will keep Jowan here as a precaution," Teagan informed them. "He says he wants to help, so he will keep an eye on Connor with us. Go to the tower quickly then. The longer you are away, the greater the chances of disaster." Elyssa nodded and made her way back outside.


	31. Zevran Arainai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What? Of course I have to tell you this part. You can't just have a character randomly show up later in the story, it messes with things when you do that.

They hadn't gotten far from the village when they were stopped by a woman who seemed desperate.

"Oh, thank the Maker!" she said as they approached. "We need help! They attacked the wagon; please help us!" And with that, the woman ran down the road. Elyssa glanced at the others before running after the woman. It did look like someone had been attacked, but the way the woman walked toward the others was odd, to say the least. And at the front was… an elf? The elf made a motion with his hand, and other people emerged from behind the wagons. 

_Great. Ambushed. Again._ Elyssa rolled her eyes and grabbed her sword. Before she could, a dead tree started falling. Elyssa jumped and rolled out of the way, looking around as she stood to make sure the others were alright. The tree falling had blocked their escape, as had surely been the plan.

"The Grey Warden dies here!" the elf called to the others. 

After the others were defeated, Elyssa decided to wake the elven assassin up to speak to him. They could always kill him later.

"I rather thought I would wake up dead," he muttered after a bit of groaning. "Or not wake up at all, as the case may be. But I see you haven't killed me yet." How observant.

"That could be easily rectified," Elyssa reminded the elf. 

"Of that, I have no doubt," the elf agreed. "You are most skilled. If you haven't killed me, however, you must have kept me alive for some purpose, yes?"

"I'll ask the questions here," she snapped. 

"Ah! So I'm to be interrogated?" the elf reasoned. "Let me save you some time. My name is Zevran. Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows, brought here for the sole purpose of slaying any surviving Grey Wardens. Which I have failed at, sadly."

"All things considered, I'm rather happy you failed," Elyssa said off-handedly.

"So would I be, in your shoes," Zevran agreed again. "For me, however, it sets a rather poor precedent, doesn't it? Getting captured by a target seems a tad detrimental to one's budding assassin career."

"What are the Antivan Crows?" Elyssa asked. 

"I can tell you that," Leliana said suddenly. "They are an order of assassins out of Antiva. Very powerful, and renowned for always getting the job done… so to speak. Someone went to great expense to hire this man."

"Quite right," Zevran said. "I'm surprised you haven't heard much of the Crows out here. Back where I come from, we're rather infamous." 

"You came all the way from Antiva?" Elyssa asked, skeptical.

"Not precisely. I was in the neighborhood when the offer came," he explained. "The Crows get around, you see." 

"Who hired you to kill us?" she questioned.

"A rather taciturn fellow in the capital," Zevran told her. "Loghain, I think his name was? Yes, that's it."

"When were you to see him next?"

"I wasn't," he admitted. "If I had succeeded, I would have returned home, and the Crows would have informed your Loghain f the results, if he didn't already know. If I had failed, I would be dead. Or I should be, at least as far as the Crows are concerned. No need to see Loghain then."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Elyssa asked after a moment. 

"Why not?" the elf said with a laugh. "I wasn't paid for silence. Not that I offered it for sale, precisely."

"Aren't you at least loyal to your employers?" Elyssa wondered. This elf was an odd one.

"Loyalty is an interesting concept," he said. "If you wish, and you're done interrogating me, we can discuss it further."

"I'm listening," Elyssa said with a sigh, much to everyone else's surprise. "Make it quick."

"Well, here's the thing. I failed to kill you, so my life is forfeit. That's how it works," he explained. "If you don't kill me, the Crows will. Thing is, I like living. And you obviously are the sort to give the Crows pause. So let me serve you instead."

"And what's to stop you from finishing the job later?"

"To be completely honest, I was never given much of a choice regarding joining the Crows," he admitted. "They bought me on the slave market when I was a child. I think I've paid my worth back to them, plus tenfold. The only way out, however, is to sign up with someone they can't touch. Even if I did kill you now, they might just kill me on principle for failing the first time. Honestly, I'd rather take my chances with you."

"Won't they come after you?" she asked.

"Possibly," he responded. "I happen to know their wily ways, however. I can protect myself, as well as you. Not that you seem to need much help. And if not, well, it's not as if I had many alternatives to start with, is it?"

"What do you want in return?"

"Well… let's see. Being allowed to live would be nice, and would make me marginally more useful to you," he joked. Great. Another smart-aleck. "And somewhere down the line, if you should decide that you no longer have need or me, then I go on my way. Until then, I am yours. Is that fair?"

"Very well, I accept your offer," Elyssa said.

"What?!" Alistair objected. "You're taking the assassin with us now? Does that really seem like a good idea?"

"Don't worry about it," she told him. "We could use him. Besides, we've beaten him once already."

"Alright, alright," he conceded. "I see your point. Still, if there was a sign we were desperate, I think it just knocked on the door and said hello."

"Welcome, Zevran," Leliana said. "Having an Antivan Crow join us sounds like a fine plan."

"Oh? You are another companion to be, then?" Zevran asked her. "I wasn't aware such loveliness existed amongst adventurers, surely."

"Or maybe not," Leliana responded quickly, her voice going cold. Elyssa helped the elf to his feet. 

"I hereby pledge my oath of loyalty to you, until such a time as you choose to release me from it," Zevran recited. "I am your man, without reservation… This I swear." 

"You should come with us for a while," Elyssa decided. "Leliana, can you go back and inform the others about this?"

"Of course," the bard responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. The system that has this specific save file on it is packed away for the summer, so I'll post what I have over the next few weeks and get more up once I'm back on campus and have my Xbox all set up again.


	32. Saving Connor

"Welcome back, friend," the first enchanter said when Elyssa approached him. "You'll be glad to learn that the Circle is well on its way to recovery."

"Can the Circle go to Redcliffe to save a possessed child?" Elyssa asked him. 

"The child is possessed?" Irving echoed. "But… killing the demon would mean killing the--" He paused for a moment. "Unless you intend to enter the Fade? Yes… yes, it can be done with a group of mages… I shall gather what mages I can and we shall leave promptly. A life is at stake."

On the way back to Redcliffe, Elyssa realized she would be deciding which mage to send into the Fade. She would not send Jowan into the Fade, no matter how much he said he wanted to help. 

They were stopped by a band of darkspawn on the way. They were easy enough to kill, but a good knock to the head made Elyssa see double for a while. After the skirmish, as they were about to leave the clearing, Wynne collapsed. Elyssa ran to her side, but the old mage got up on her own.

"I… Fell…" she muttered, one hand on her head. 

"I noticed," Elyssa said, concerned. "Are you alright?"

"For a moment there I thought I was… I thought it was all over…" 

"You need rest, that's all," Elyssa attempted to reassure the old mage. 

"I… I will explain everything, when we are back at camp," Wynne said after a moment. "Now is not the time."

"As you like," Elyssa said simply. They continued on their way, back to Redcliffe Castle. 

"Ah, there you are!" the First Enchanter said when they entered the castle's main hall. 

"We ran into some darkspawn along the way," Elyssa said simply. "Is everything ready?"

"We have brought lyrium and begun preparations for the ritual. We can start anytime," Irving informed her. 

"Let's do this now," Elyssa said, determined. There was too much about Isolde and Connor that reminded her of Oriana and Oren. It would be nice to have this done, once and for all.

"I'm glad we decided to take this route," Alistiar spoke up. "This is really the best option."

"Very well. Who will go into the Fade?" Irving asked.

Elyssa looked over at Wynne, remembering her collapse after the darkspawn. "Wynne, will you go?" She felt like she knew Morrigan pretty well, but at this moment she wasn't entirely sure what the apostate would do. At least she knew Wynne would kill the demon.

"Of course," she responded. 

"Then let us begin, forthwith," Irving said quickly. They had taken enough time getting here, it was time to be done with it.

Watching the ritual was an interesting experience. The way Wynne handled the lyrium was unique, something Elyssa, in her noble upbringing, had never seen. There was a flash, and then it appeared as if Wynne was asleep. Elyssa looked over at Irving, curious. 

"I've never seen someone use lyrium like this," she admitted. 

"Where are you from, child?" Irving asked suddenly. "I do not remember ever hearing your name."

"My apologies, first enchanter," Elyssa said formally. "Elyssa Cousland, of Highever." She saw her name catch Isolde's attention, and she remembered only Alistair knew the full story of what happened. But nobody responded to her, so she decided to sit next to Alistair, watching. He didn't say anything either, but his presence alone was comforting. 

Soon enough, Wynne woke and rose to her feet again. "It is done, the demon is dead," she reported, sounding a bit tired. 

"Thank you, Wynne," Elyssa said gratefully. There would be no more walking corpses in Redcliffe, not now at least. Hopefully, there would never be again. The mages left, and the rest of them went to help see off the dead in the village. 

"So it is over," Teagan said when they were back in the castle. "Connor is his old self. He does not seem to remember anything, which is a blessing. I suppose we will need to send him to the Circle of Magi's tower for… training, once the war is over. It's so odd to think of the boy as a mage, of all things." Elyssa silently agreed. But she wasn't seeing Connor, she was seeing Oren. What if her brother's boy had been a mage? "Eamon has much to mourn and rebuild, should he recover," Teagan continued. "But at least he can be thankful both his wife and son are safe."

"I owe you my deepest thanks," Isolde spoke up. "I had nearly… I can scarcely believe Connor is the boy he once was."

"There is still the matter of Jowan," Teagan reminded them. "His poisoning Eamon began this whole mess, yet he lives. I must decide what becomes of him." After a moment's thought, he spoke again. "We will hold him for Eamon to decide his fate. If he doesn't recover, Jowan's fate is sealed. What do you think?"

"Why do you want my opinion?" Elyssa asked carefully. 

"You spoke with him, have you not? You know what he has done better than I do, even," Teagan admitted. Elyssa 's eyes became distant, then, before she spoke again.

"I do not think it is your decision to make," she said carefully, treading on thin ice. 

"What do you mean?" Teagan demanded. "He is responsible for many of the problems here and is a maleficar as well."

"Exactly," Elyssa reasoned. "He is the Circle of Magi's responsibility."

"Perhaps you are correct, but that is Eamon's decision, not mine," he said after a moment. "I am sorry; Jowan stays in the dungeon for now." He looked back at Eamon over his shoulder. "But our task is not done yet. Whatever the demon did to my brother, it seems to have spared his life… but he remains comatose. We cannot wake him."

"The Urn!" Isolde insisted, turning to stand beside her husband. "The Urn of Sacred Ashes will save Eamon!" 

"I will seek out this urn," Elyssa declared, determined again. She would not see him die, not while she could still do something to help. 

"Thank you," Isolde said genuinely. "I am grateful for your eagerness to help restore my husband. Find Brother Genitivi--the scholar--in Denerim. He has been researching the Urn's location for several years now. The knights that returned say that they were unable to find Genitivi, but perhaps the Maker will lead you to him."

"I must go to the hall and begin rebuilding," Teagan said to them. "I wish you luck, and may the Maker go with you."

"May He watch over us all…" Elyssa muttered, an eerie feeling at the back of her neck when she remembered that those were the last words he heard Duncan say. 

"You… you're the one who saved me?" a voice asked as they passed an open door. Elyssa turned and spotted Connor. She shook her head.

"It wasn't me," she told him. "It was Wynne." 

"Then… I guess I owe her thanks," he said slowly. "Father always said to remember to thank people who do nice things for you. I hope Father gets better soon. He will, won't he?" 

"You will have him back soon, if I have anything to say about it," she told him gently. "Your father is raising you into a fine young man." With that, Connor returned to the room, and Elyssa went on her way. In one of the rooms on the first floor, Elyssa found something that looked familiar. She remembered Alistair talking about an amulet with Andraste's symbol on it, that he broke against the wall when he was a boy. It was sitting on the arl's desk, and she quickly picked it up when he wasn't paying attention. She would give it to him back at camp.


	33. Alistair's Rose

They left Redcliffe and made their way toward Denerim, and Alistair stopped her after they made camp for the night. 

"What did you need Alistair?" she asked, the incident with Connor still fresh in her mind. The fact that Connor reminded her so much of her own nephew scared her…

"I want to talk about what happened. At Redcliffe."

"What's on your mind?" she prompted.

"I just wanted to thank you," he admitted. "You went out of your way to save the arl's family and you did it, even though it would have been easier not to. There's been so much death and destruction, it… well, it makes me feel good that at least we were able to save something, no matter how small. I owed the arl that much."

"If we can stop the Blight, we'll save much more," she reminded him.

"You're right," he agreed. "Hopefully by that time there's still enough of Ferelden left to save." He looked at her after he said that, and an awkward silence stretched between them. "Good. Now that the warm, fuzzy part of the day is over with, we can get back to the ritual dismemberments. Oh, wait, it's not Tuesday, is it?" Elyssa found herself laughing at that. 

"Alistair, wait, I have something for you," she said, handing him the amulet.

"This… this is my mother's amulet," he said, surprised. "It has to be. But why isn't it broken? Where did you find it?"

"I found it in Redcliffe castle, in the study," she admitted after a moment. 

"Oh, the arl's study? Then he must have… found the amulet after I threw it at the wall. And he repaired it and kept it?" He sounded confused. "I don't understand, why would he do that?"

"Perhaps you mean more to him than you think," she suggested gently. 

"I… guess you could be right," he conceded. "We never really talked that much, and then the way I left…" He sighed, looking down at the amulet, then looked back up at her. "Thank you. I mean it. I… thought I'd lost this to my own stupidity. I'll need to talk to him about this. If he recovers from his… **when** he recovers, that is. I wish I'd had this a long time ago." He held the amulet in one hand. "Did you remember me mentioning it? Wow. I'm more used to people not really listening when I go on about things."

"Of course I remembered," she insisted softly. "You're special to me." The words drew a slight blush to her cheeks, and she averted her eyes.

"Is this the part where the music starts and we begin dancing?" Alistair joked. "Because I'm game. Where's the minstrels?" Elyssa laughed softly. He fell silent, and she was about to turn away when he spoke again.

"You know… maybe this isn't the best time to be thinking about this, but I've something to ask you," he said seriously. "When we go to Denerim, I was wondering if we might be able to… look someone up."

"You have a friend outside the Grey Wardens?" she asked, curious.

"I'm not talking about a friend, exactly. And, no, it's not that sort of friend either," he clarified. "The thing is, I have a sister. A half-sister. I told you about my mother, right? She was a servant at Redcliffe Castle, and she had a daughter… only, I never knew about her. I don't think she knew about me, either. They kept my birth a secret, after all. But after I became a Grey Warden, I did some checking and… well, I found out she's still alive. In Denerim."

"That's wonderful news," Elyssa said to him. 

"She's the only real family I have left, the only family also not mixed up in the whole royal thing," he continued. "I've just been thinking that… maybe it's time I went to see her. With the Blight coming and everything, I don't know if I'll ever get another chance to see her. Maybe I can help her, warn her about the danger, I don't know."

"If you want to, we could try," she suggested.

"Could we?" he asked. "I'd appreciate that. If something happened to her and I never went to at least see her, I don't know if I could forgive myself. Her name is Goldanna, and I think she remarried but still lives just utside the Alienage. If we're in the area, then… well, it's worth a look." Goldanna. That was the name of the woman in Alistair's dream, when they were under the sloth demon's spell. Elyssa turned to walk away, but he stopped her one more time.

"Here, look at this," he said, handing her something. "Do you know what this is?"

"That's a rose," she said, looking up at him. 

"I picked it in Lothering," he admitted. "I remember thinking, _How could something so beautiful exist in a place with so much despair and ugliness?_ I probably should have let it alone, but I couldn't. The darkspawn would come and their taint would just destroy it. So, I've had it ever since." Elyssa felt herself start to blush a bit as she looked at it, understanding what Alistair was trying to say.

"And what do you intend to do with it?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"I thought that I might… give it to you, actually," he admitted, and she looked back up at him. "In a lot of ways, I think the same thing when I look at you." She couldn't help the smile that came to her face.

"I… don't know what to say," she admitted softly. 

"I guess it's a bit silly, isn't it?" he continued, a tender look on his face. "I just thought… here I am doing all this complaining, and you haven't exactly been having a good time of it yourself. You've had none of the good experience of being a Grey Warden since your Joining, not a word of thanks or congratulations. It's all been death and fighting and tragedy. I thought maybe I could say something. Tell you what a rare and wonderful thing you are to find amidst all this… darkness." Elyssa averted her eyes, looking back down at the rose in her hand.

"I feel the same way about you," she admitted after a moment. 

"I'm glad you like it," he said. "Now… if we could get right on past this awkward, embarrassing stage and get right to the steamy bits, I'd appreciate it." This drew another laugh from her. Oh, it felt good to laugh again.

"And you were doing so well, too," she told him, grinning. 

"Oh? Your loss, then," he said with a grin. "All the ladies go on and on about how suave I am. I don't know how you can resist me like you do." He looked up at the sky. "Oh, look, is that a cloud? I expect rain." Elyssa couldn't keep the smile from her face as she held the rose. But where was she going to put it?

"So, all this time we've spent together… you know, the tragedy, the brushes with death, the constant battles with the whole Blight looming over us… will you miss it once it's over?" he asked her later, as they stood watch by the fire.

"Miss the constant battles?" she echoed. "Or miss you?"

"I know it… might sound strange, considering we haven't known each other for very long, but I've come to… care for you. A great deal," he confessed hesitantly. "I think maybe it's because we've gone through so much together, I don't know. Or maybe I'm imagining it. Maybe I'm fooling myself. Am I? Fooling myself? Or do you think you might ever… feel the same way about me?" he asked.

"I think… I already do," she admitted after a moment. 

"So I fooled you, did I?" he asked with a small smile. "Good to know." He closed the space between them and his lips met hers. She returned it, realizing in her heart just how much she cared for him. He broke the kiss and looked down at her. "That… that wasn't too soon, was it?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, not really. I liked it," she admitted, smiling softly.

"Good," he said, smiling again. "I'll take that as a good sign. Maker's breath, but you're beautiful. I am a lucky man." The two of them simply looked at each other for a moment, before Alistair broke the silence. "Now, let's get back to… what we were up to before. Lest I forget why we're here." She nodded, smiling slightly, and returned her attention to the fire. 

Soon enough, Wynne came out of the tent to take Alistair's place. Elyssa found herself watching as Alistair disappeared inside one of the other tents, absently fingering the Warden's Oath pendant that hung around her neck. 

"You're quite taken with each other, aren't you?" the old mage asked. 

"You know about Alistair and me?" Elyssa asked, surprised. She didn't think they'd been that obvious about it.

"It's hard not to notice the doe-eyed looks he gives you, especially when he thinks no one's watching," Wynne explained simply. "It's almost too sweet for my tastes, and I'm an old lady who should be making lace hearts and fuzzy blankets with animal motifs."

"You're not the average old lady," Elyssa reminded her, a small smile still playing about her lips. She kept glancing over to where Alistair had disappeared into the tent.

"No, I won't be making socks with pom-poms for you any time soon, but that's hardly my point," Wynne said gently. "I've noticed your blossoming relationship, and I wanted to ask you where you thought it was going. Alistair is a fine lad, skilled in battle, but quite inexperienced when it comes to affairs of the heart. I would hate to see him get hurt."

"We're just taking it one day at a time," Elyssa said with a small sigh. She didn't need anyone's reminders, she still remembered _that_ day very clearly. 

"You are both Grey Wardens, and he is the son of a king," Wynne continued. "You have responsibilities which supersede your personal desires."

"I'm a human being with emotions, not just a Grey Warden," Elyssa said softly, looking away. Sure, she'd wanted to be known as a Grey Warden instead of the last Cousland, but this was different.

"Love is ultimately selfish," Wynne began again. "It demands that one be devoted to a single person, who may fully occupy one's mind and heart, to the exclusion of all else. A Grey Warden cannot afford to be selfish. You may be forced to make a choice between saving your love and saving everyone else, and then what would you do?"

"What am I supposed to do, tell Alistair to go away?" she asked quickly. She was beginning to heal because of Alistiar, she wouldn't be able to just cast him off like that.

"You may have to, to save one or both of you unnecessary anguish later on," the old mage said, stern but gentle. 

"I'm not giving up on what we have, no matter what you say," Elyssa decided. This was something she'd chosen for herself, and she wasn't about to hand it over just because of circumstance.

"I have given my advice," Wynne conceded. "Do with it what you will."


	34. On The Road Again

"Hey, Alistair," Elyssa called while they were walking. "What was it like to be a Grey Warden, with all the others?"

"I didn't know them for very long, but I guess it was longer than you," he realized. "You never met them all, did you? They were quite a group. Actually, they felt like an extended family, since we were all cut off from our former lives. We also laughed more than you'd think. There was this one time… well, you probably don't want to hear stories about men you didn't know."

"I'd like to hear about them," she insisted.

"There was one Grey Warden who came all the way from the Anderfels," Alistair began. "What was his name? Gregor? Grigor? He was a burly man with the biggest, fuzziest beard you've ever seen. And the man could **drink.** He drank all the time but never got drunk. Finally, we all made a pool to see just how many pints it would take to put him under the table."

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun," Elyssa commented softly, wishing she'd been able to meet the others too.

"Sometimes. We were kin, of a sort," he continued. "All of us had gone through the Joining, so we knew… anyhow, it doesn't have to be deadly serious all the time. Anyhow, we never did find out. He said he'd drink a pint for every half-pint the rest of us drank. He was still going by the time the rest of us were passed out. I'm told that Duncan walked in later on and saw us all passed out, from one end of the hall to the other, and Gregor still drinking. Duncan laughed until he nearly… until…" Elyssa looked up and saw the pain in Alistair's eyes again.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "This must be hard for you." She reached out hesitantly and took his hand. 

"Yes, I… I suppose so. I thought I was done with this but…" He sighed softly. "It just struck me that I have nothing to remember Duncan by. Nothing at all. There's no body, not even a token of his that I could… take with me. That must… sound really stupid to you."

"You have your memories of him," she reminded him, not knowing what else to say.

"I just would have liked something of his to take with me, that's all," he admitted again. "Well, there's no use moaning about it, is there? He's gone. Let's just go." So the two of them walked on in silence.

They stopped to eat, and Elyssa found herself sitting next to Leliana. 

"Leliana, can I ask you something?" Elyssa wondered.

"What's on your mind?" the bard asked.

"Why did you decide to come to Ferelden?" 

"My mother was from Denerim, and I consider myself a Fereldan," Leliana explained. "Mother served an Orlesian noblewoman who lived here when Orlais ruled. When Orlais was defeated and the common folk began to resent the presence of any Orlesian, the lady returned to Orlais. She took my mother with her. I was born in Orlais, and did not set foot in Ferelden till much later. Mother was always telling me stories of her homeland; I think she missed it."

"What happened to your mother?" Elyssa asked after a moment. 

"Mother died when I was very young," Leliana said. "Lady Cecilie let me stay with her. I had no one else." She had a sad look on her face as she talked. "She was quite old then, and she had me study music and dance to entertain her. It is unfair, that I have more memories of Cecilie than my mother."

"Do you remember nothing of your mother?" 

"Strangely, the only thing I really remember of Mother was her scent," the bard admitted. "She kept dried flowers in her closet, amongst her clothes. Small, white Ferelden wildflowers with a sweet fragrance. Mother called them Andraste's Grace. They were very rare in Orlais. But enough about that. Let us move on." Elyssa nodded, and Leliana gathered her things. 

They were passing through the bannorn on their way to Denerim, and Elyssa stopped everyone when she heard something abnormal. It sounded like voices, but why would there be so many voices in a deserted area like this? True, they weren't very far from Lake Calenhad, but the only reason for people to come this way was to go to the Circle Tower. She got closer to the edge of the hill they were on, and she looked closely at the people gathered. It seemed to be one man surrounded by five soldiers, but the man looked familiar. He was wearing the uniform of King Cailan's honor guard, which caught Elyssa by surprise. After a moment, she remembered. This man was at Ostagar too. A closer examination of the guards showed her they wore the uniform of Bann Loren, who's wife and son had been killed during the attack on Highever Castle. Bann Loren's son, Dairren, had been the first man she allowed in bed with her. A minor lord, well-known and little-loved for the fluidity of his allegiances. Elyssa looked over at Alistair, who nodded. Elyssa quietly drew her sword, just in time to see one of the guards stab the unarmed man. Then the guards turned to see Elyssa atop the hill, sword in hand, and attacked. They approached the man after the fight was won, and Elyssa recognized him immediately as Elric Maraigne, one of King Cailan's honor guard and a close confidant. He slowly pushed himself up on one arm and looked at her.

"Thank you," he said after a moment. "I… didn't expect the Bann's men to notice my escape so quickly. I tried to hide here in the woods, but there wasn't time. And now I'm a dead man."

"What do you mean, there wasn't time?" she asked.

"You were there at Ostagar. You know how things went," he said solemnly. "For me, it was either this, or die in some darkspawn's belly, or… or be hung as a deserter."

"Yes, I recognize your face," she said with a nod. 

"You were there with the Grey Wardens," Elric remembered. "One of Duncan's new recruits. I was to guard the king. He was my friend, understand? Maker, all that time in Bann Loren's prison and I couldn't stop thinking about all they suffered that one dark night at Ostagar…"

"We don't always get to choose our deaths," Elyssa said, feeling the truth of the words in her bones, her eyes darkening with the memories those words brought up.

"No, perhaps not," he agreed. "But I've been given the chance to set things right. If it's the likes of you who sees me to my final hour, perhaps things happen for a reason. The king entrusted me with the key to the royal arms chest. If anything were to happen to him, he said, it was vital I deliver it to the Wardens."

"Do you still have this key?" she asked him.

"The Maker has a sense of humor, doesn't he? I suppose it's for the best, however--had I kept it, it would be in Bann Loren's hands by now," Elric said with a sigh. 

"But you said Cailan entrusted it to you!" Wynne spoke up, sounding equal parts surprised and frustrated. 

"I was afraid," he admitted. "I thought I would lose it on the battlefield, so I stashed it in the camp. Please--it's probably still there."

"Where?" Elyssa asked quickly.

"The key's behind a loose stone in the base of a statue," he told them. "I'll draw a map for you so you'll know where to search."

"You'll be taking me along, won't you?" Alistair requested. "Call me sentimental, but I left behind some darkspawn that really deserve a sword through the middle."

"The events at Ostagar still haunt my thoughts, Elyssa," Wynne admitted. "If that is where we are headed, I would like to accompany you."

"It is vital that the king's documents do not fall into the wrong hands," Elric continued. "As for Maric's sword, it is too powerful to be pawed at by those monsters. Same for the king's other arms and armor. And… and if you happen to find Cailan's body, see it off. He was our king, he shouldn't be left to rot amidst the darkspawn's filth." With one last breath, Elric Maraigne died.

"Once Arl Eamon is well, we'll go back to Ostagar," Elyssa decided, standing and turning to look at Alistair and Wynne. They both voiced their agreement, and they made their way toward Denerim again.

They made camp for the night, and Morrigan called Elyssa over.

"I have been studying Mother's grimoire," Morrigan said. "Do you wish to hear what I have found?"

"What did you find?" 

"Tis… not what I expected," she admitted. "I had hoped for a collection of her spells, a map of the power that she commands. But this is not it."

"Yet you look disturbed," Elyssa observed.

"Disturbed? Yes, perhaps that is the right word," Morrigan said thoughtfully after a moment. "One thing in particular within her writings disturbs me. Here, in great detail, Flemeth explains the means by which she has survived for centuries."

"A… spell of immortality?" Elyssa asked, clueless.

"Oh, if only 'twere so," the apostate sighed. "Flemeth has raised many daughters over her long lifetime. There are stories of these many Witches of the Wilds throughout Chasind legend, yet I have never seen a one, and always wondered why not. And now I know. They are all Flemeth. When her body becomes old and wizened, she raises a daughter. And when the time is right, she takes her daughter's body for her own."

"Are you certain about this?" Elyssa was shocked that magic like that existed.

"Indeed. That is primarily what this tome details," Morrigan explained. "The various daughters that Flemeth has… acquired. Their preparation and training. I recognize it all. I… am to be her next host. This is my purpose."

"And you had no idea? I'm so sorry."

"Do not be sorry," Morrigan said with a scoff. "I am not. I am angry. There is only one possible response to this. Flemeth needs to die. I will not sit about like an empty sack waiting to be filled. Flemeth must be slain and I need your help to do it." 

"Very well," Elyssa agreed. "I'll help you, if I can."

"Then what needs to be done is for you to go back to Flemeth's hut in the Korcari Wilds… without me," she explained. "If I am present when she is slain, I cannot be certain that she will not be able to possess my body right then. So I must remain at the camp. Confront her and slay her quickly. I doubt she will be dead even then, but it will take her years to find a new host and recover her powers… If that is even possible. The thing I must have is her true grimoire. With that, I can defend against her power in the future. Everything else in her hut is yours." 

"I'll see what I can do," Elyssa assured Morrigan. 

"I am grateful," the apostate admitted. "The sooner this can be done, the sooner it will set my mind at ease." Elyssa nodded and returned to the fire. Again, it was her turn for the first guard shift. This time, with Sten.

"Do you find Ferelden very strange?" she asked him while the night moved on around them.

"To put it lightly," he said after a moment. "No one has a place here. Your farmers wish to be merchants. The merchants dream of being nobles, and the nobles become warriors. No one is content to be who they are."

"Is there anything you like about Ferelden?" she asked, to change the topic. She was a noble who had become a warrior, after all, even if it wasn't entirely by her own choice 

"There is… interesting food here," he admitted. "You have a thing… it doesn't have a word in the qunari tongue. Little baked things, like bread, but sweet and crumbly."

"Cookies?" Elyssa said helpfully.

"Yes!" Sten said, sounding excited, if that was possible. "We have no such things in our lands. This should be remedied."

"I'll keep that in mind," Elyssa said with a small smile. 

The last guard shift of the night, as the sky blossomed with the colors of dawn, found Elyssa and Alistair together by the fire. Elyssa was always more comfortable in his company, which she had found odd before, but now it felt right. 

"I'm wondering something," he said after a while. "I'd like to know your thoughts about some of our… traveling companions. Do you mind if I ask?"

"Time for the juicy gossip, I take it?" Elyssa joked. 

"I've got this nefarious plan to go around to each of them and secretly tell them all the nasty things you said," he joked back, glad to hear her joking. It was a far cry from how she'd looked when he first met her at Ostagar, and he wanted her to stay this way. "That way they'll mutiny and I shall become the group leader!" He laughed, and Elyssa found herself laughing with him. 

"Very cute. Just so you know, I'm laughing at you, not with you," she said through her laughter.

"Ouch, now I'm wounded," he responded. "Look at me, bleeding all over the place. You're just not very nice, are you?" It was refreshing to see her like this, in contrast to how she'd been when they first met. "Seriously, though, I'm only curious. I've had enough time to form my own opinions and I just want to see if yours are any different."

"Sounds like fun. Ask away," she said to him, placing another log on the fire. 

"Zevran, the elf," Alistair began. "You can't… trust him, can you? Do you believe his so-called vow?" Elyssa looked over at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Why? Are you jealous?" she teased.

"Maybe a little," he admitted. "But that doesn't stop the question from being relevant." Elyssa laughed softly.

"You're jealous! You're actually jealous!" It was odd how funny she found this. Maybe it was because she was just glad to be able to laugh again. It felt like such a long time since she'd felt this good.

"Just… answer the question!" he protested. "You're killing me here."

"Sorry, sorry," she said quickly, still smiling. "Maybe. We'll see."

"That's a lot to put on a maybe, isn't it?" he countered. "He's an assassin. The Crows aren't known for giving up. Maybe he's just biding his time?"

"If he tries anything, he'll die," she said simply, somber once more. "And he knows it."

"Well, at least you're considering the possibility," Alistair conceded. "He just seems shifty to me. What about Sten? The way he looks at me, with those big eyes… creepy. And he's so quiet, for someone so big." 

"I agree," she admitted. "The qunari are unsettling."

"Yet he doesn't seem quite so bad as the Chantry tells us," he said. "According to them, his philosophy is vile and evil, yet he seems so reasonable. And yet, he killed all those people. He doesn't even deny it. Doesn't that bother you?"

"He seems to regret what he did," she said after a moment.

"I'm not so sure that his regret means the same as it would for us," he said thoughtfully. "The qunari sense of honor is… a bit hard to grasp. For me, anyway. What about Leliana? Is she crazy? Or do you really believe in her vision?"

"I believe that she believes in her vision," Elyssa said, artfully dodging the question.

"That's one way to put it," Alistair said. "I don't know what to make of her. If you look at her when she doesn't see you, she just looks so… so sad. I almost feel guilty taking her away from her life."

"It was her choice," she reminded him.

"Yes, I know. Still, I feel bad for her," he said again. "Morrigan. Do you trust her? Think about it… maybe Flemeth sent her with us for some other reason than she said."

"You really don't like each other, do you?" she asked. It was odd, Elyssa found that she got along pretty well with Morrigan. 

"Well, aside from the fact that she's a complete and utter **bitch** , no… I don't like her at all," he admitted. Elyssa was caught off-guard by his harsh words, she'd never heard him speak like that before. "Why? Do you?"

"I like her just fine," she said after a moment, looking into the fire. 

"Great. I am thrilled beyond words," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No, really." He sighed. "Enough, I think my curiosity is sated. Let's get back to it, shall we?"

"Yes, the others should be up soon, and then we should move on again," Elyssa agreed. "We need to find Genitivi's trail."


	35. Denerim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long on this chapter guys. The WIFI at the camp I worked for the summer was horrendous. But in a few days I will be moving back to campus, to my own apartment, with my own game system that has this specific save file on it. I've also got up to chapter 40 saved on my laptop, so I'll try to get one chapter out every day if I remember.

The market district of Denerim was bustling, people selling their wares and children running about. But as they got closer to the central area of the district, Alistair stopped her. 

"That's… my sister's house," he said. "I'm almost sure of it, this is--yes, this is the right address. She could be inside. Could we… go and see?" 

"Yes, let's do that," she agreed. 

"Will she even know who I am?" he wondered. "Does she even know I exist? My sister. That sounds very strange… sister. Siiiissster. Hmm. Now I'm babbling. Maybe we should go. Let's go. Let's just… go." 

"You wanted to meet her," Elyssa reminded him. "Let's go meet Goldanna." She opened the door, and he followed her inside.

"Err… hello?" Alistair called out as the door closed behind them.

"Eh? You have linens to wash?" asked a woman who looked very much like the one the demon in the Fade pretended to be. "I charge three bits on the bundle, you won't find better. And don't trust what that Natalia woman tells you either, she's foreign and she'll rob you blind." She said all this very fast, and it took them both a moment to catch up.

"I'm… not here to have any wash done," Alistair said eventually. "My name's Alistair. I'm… well, this may sound sort of strange, but are you Goldanna? If so, I suppose I'm your brother."

"My what?" the woman said, confused. "I'm Goldanna, yes… how do you know my name? What kind of tomfoolery are you folk up to?"

"Are you sure your information was correct, Alistair?" Elyssa asked carefully.

"Yes, I… I think so. I'm sure of it, in fact," he said before turning his attention back to Goldanna. "Look, our mother… she worked as a servant in Redcliffe Castle a long time ago, before she died. Do you know about that? She--"

"You! I knew it! They told me you was dead!" Goldanna said angrily. "They told me the babe was dead along with mother, but I knew they was lying!"

"They told you I was dead?" Alistair echoed. "Who? Who told you that?"

"Them's at the castle!" Goldanna explained, still sounding angry. "I told them the babe was the king's, and they said he was dead. Gave me a coin to shut my mouth and sent me on my way! I knew it!"

"I'm sorry, I… didn't know that," Alistair said, attempting… something. "The babe didn't die. I'm him: I'm… your brother."

Goldanna scoffed. "For all the good it does me!" she snapped. "You killed Mother, you did, and I've had to scrape by all this time? That coin didn't last long, and when I went back they ran me off!"

"So is she everything you expected?" Elyssa asked Alistair.

"And who in the Maker's name are you?" Goldanna hissed, turning on Elyssa. "Some tart, following after his riches, I expect?" Elyssa's hands balled into fists. Maker, this woman was irritating. When had manners become something that people had to afford?

"Hey! Don't speak to her that way!" Alistair said quickly, sounding angry himself. "She's my friend, and a Grey Warden! Just like me!"

"Ooohh, I see," Goldanna said mockingly. "A prince and a Grey Warden too. Well, who am I to think poorly of someone so high and mighty compared to me? I don't know you, boy. Your royal father forced himself on my mother and took her away from me, and what do I got to show for it? Nothing. They tricked me good! I should have told everyone! I've got five mouths to feed, and unless you can help with that, I got less than no use for you."

"I… I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"It looks like all she wants is your money," Elyssa said coolly, glaring daggers at Goldanna. 

"Yes, it really seems that way, doesn't it?" he gave in. "I wasn't expecting my sister to be so… I'm starting to wonder why I came."

"I don't know why you came, either, or what you expected to find," Goldanna spat. "But it isn't here! Now get out of my house, the both of you!" Elyssa was beyond angry at this woman now, but she kept it inside and turned away. 

"Let's leave," she said to Alistair. "Now." _Before I cut her bloody tongue out for talking to you like that,_ she added silently.

"I agree. Let's get out of here." The door closed behind them with a dull thud. Elyssa found herself remembering what she thought after Rendon Howe's betrayal. 

"Well, that was… not what I expected. To put it lightly," Alistair said once they were outside. "This is the family I've been wondering about all my life? That shrew is my sister? I can't believe it. I… I guess I was expecting her to accept me without question. Isn't that what family is supposed to do? I… I feel like a complete idiot." He looked at Elyssa and saw something in her eyes that startled him. Her eyes were hard and distant, similar to what he'd seen right before the Joining. Something about this had reminded her of what happened to Highever Castle.

"Everyone is out for themselves," she said coldly, her voice distant. "You should learn that." She'd had to learn that lesson the hard way herself. Sometimes that happened. She turned away, avoiding his gaze. That was particularly true with the nobility. Everyone had a hidden agenda.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. I should." He sighed, frustrated. "Let's just go. I don't want to talk about this anymore." She nodded. They still had to find Genitivi. And maybe a smith that would be able to make something out of the drake scales they'd collected. 

That was easy enough to find, Wade's Emporium had a smith who was determined to make armor out of the scales they had. Elyssa made a mental note to come back to Denerim later to retrieve the armor. And then there was the painted box for Red Jenny, whoever that was, that got dropped off in return for some coins. Then they found Genitivi's home, across the way from the Gnawed Noble Tavern. 

Inside, there was a boy waiting for them. 

"Yes? What are you doing here?" the boy asked. 

"I'm looking for Brother Genitivi," she told him.

"Brother Genitivi?" he echoed. "Why?"

"I heard about his search for the Urn of Sacred Ashes." 

"He was on the trail of the Urn of Sacred Ashe, yes." Was this supposed to be Genitivi's assistant? "Whether he found it… the Maker only knows. I haven't seen Brother Genitivi in weeks. He's sent no word: it's so unlike him. I am afraid something has happened. Genitivi's research into the Urn may have led him into danger."

"Do you think he's in trouble because of the Urn?" Elyssa asked. 

"Perhaps the Urn has been lost for a reason. I pray for Genitivi's safety, but hope dwindles with each passing day. I-I tried to send help, but some knights came from Redcliffe looking for him not long ago. I sent them after Genitivi and they too have disappeared."

"I must go after them. I need the Urn for Arl Eamon," she said, determined. 

"No, don't ask me where they went," Genitivi's assistant protested. "You'll go after them, and what if ill luck should befall you, too?" Something about this wasn't adding up. "This search is a curse, on all of us. Some things are not meant to be found. I know that now." 

"I'm willing to risk it," she said, more sternly than before. "Tell me where he went."

"So be it," the assistant said with a sigh. "All he said before he left was that he would be staying at an inn near Lake Calenhad, investigating something in that area." For someone so concerned about the disappearance of his mentor, this person didn't seem all that broken up about it.

"Good. I'll head for the inn immediately then."

"Good luck. May you find the answers you seek." 

She looked over at the others. "Something isn't right about him. For someone who should be broken up about his mentor's disappearance, he doesn't look sad at all." 

"Glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that," Alistair muttered. "What do you think he's hiding?"

"We don't have time to go to Lake Calenhad and back," Elyssa decided. "Arl Eamon doesn't have that much time left, and if we don't hurry it could be too late. We should check around the house, maybe there's a clue somewhere."

They checked the kitchen first. "A book on… dragon cults?" Elyssa wondered aloud. "Well, this is odd… Let's keep looking." But there was no reaction until they approached a closed door.

"W-what are you doing?" the assistant stuttered. "You're not supposed to go in there."

"Why not?" she asked carefully. 

"I'm sorry, but that room is not for guest," he insisted. "It's full of books and papers, and I'd rather they were not disturbed." Elyssa glanced at Alistair, and the look he returned told her that he noticed it too.

"I won't mess them up," Elyssa said, in an attempt to end this peacefully. 

"I said no," he insisted again. "Genitivi was a very… private person." 

"You heard that too, right?" Alistair asked her in a whisper. She gave the smallest of nods.

"You're hiding something," Elyssa accused the assistant. "I want to know what it is."

"No, don't touch that door!" And then he was attacking them. Elyssa sighed as she drew her sword. Why couldn't anything ever end peacefully?

Once the boy was dead, they entered the back room. There were books everywhere, but there was one more interesting thing. A dead body, covered with a blanket.

"I think we found the real assistant," Elyssa said with a sigh. "This means we need to keep our guard up. Wherever Genitivi really is, the search for the Urn really has gotten dangerous." 

"Elyssa, you should see this," Leliana called, looking at a book in her hand. "There's a lot of rambling about legends and trade routes… But this part here. _The village of Haven in the Frostbacks seems a good place to start. Pity it's not on any maps._ What do you think?"

"Like it says, that's a good place to start," she responded. "Unless we have any better leads, that could be where Genitivi was before he disappeared. Let's head that way." The others nodded. 

They stopped by Wade's Emporium to pick up the drake scale armor, which Elyssa decided she'd give to Leliana later. She preferred heavier armor than this, and it wasn't really something she cared for anyway. 

After they made camp for the night, Wynne came by to talk to her.

"I think I owe you an explanation for what happened earlier," the mage said slowly. 

"Yes, you had me quite worried," Elyssa confirmed. 

"You should know that… something happened to me at the tower, before you came along," Wynne continued. "Remember my apprentice, Petra? She encountered a demon in the tower. It would have killed her had I not intervened. I saved her life that day, but I did not survive that encounter with the demon."

"This case of death is taking a while to kick in then," Elyssa said, eyebrow raised. 

"Let me explain fully," the mage said quickly. "I engaged a very powerful demon to rescue Petra. It sapped me of all my energy and will, and left me drained. It took everything I had to defeat it, and when I was done I no longer had the strength to keep my heart beating. I remember my life ebbing away: everything receded from me… sound, light… I remember being enveloped in complete, impenetrable darkness." She paused, looking out into the trees, and then continued. "And then I sensed a presence, enfolding me and cradling me, whispering quietly to me. The sensation is impossible to describe. I was being… held back, firmly, but gently, as a mother would a child eager to slip from her grasp. I felt life and warmth flowing through my veins again. I began to be aware of small sounds, and the discomfort of my hip pressing into the cold stone of the tower floor."

"That's an amazing story," Elyssa said with a small smile. It was too bad something like that couldn't happen to her mother. 

"The Fade contains spirits both benevolent and malicious," Wynne continued. "The benevolent spirits seldom make themselves known because they want nothing from morals, unlike demons. It was one of these spirits that saved me. Without it, I would be dead. And it has not left me. It is with me, even now, bonded to me. You see, I am supposed to be dead. It is the spirit that is keeping me in this world, and this is not the way of things. Perhaps the spirit did not expect this, but it is weakening, gradually. I am living on borrowed time."

"Then we will make the best of that time," Elyssa said with a nod. 

"Yes, that we will," Wynne agreed. 

Once again, she had the final guard shift with Alistair, as the sky slowly lightened from black to grey. 

"You know, I've been thinking…" Alistair said after a while.

"What have you been thinking about?" she prompted.

"Back when we left Goldanna's, you told me I needed to look out for myself more than I do," he remembered. "I'm beginning to think you were right. I need to stop letting everyone else make my decisions for me. I need to take a stand and think about myself for a change, or I'm never going to be happy."

Elyssa was on her knees, gazing into the fire. "It's about time, I say," she said after a moment. 

"Then from this point on, I'll be looking out for myself more," he decided. "I should have done this a long time ago." He fell silent, and footsteps told Elyssa that he was walking over to her. He sat down beside her, and she looked over at him. "I just wanted to thank you," he continued. "Meeting you is the one bright spot out of everything that's happened."

"I feel the same way," she responded with a smile. She shifted her weight so she was leaning against him, and he put one arm around her waist. "I've been meaning to ask you something… Why did you keep your birthright a secret?"

"You never asked?" he responded.

She sighed, looking into the fire again. "I'm hurt that you didn't trust me," she admitted softly. She felt his arm tighten around her.

"No, please don't think that," he said quickly. "It's not that I didn't trust you. It's…" He sighed. "Please, let me try to explain. The thing is, I'm used to not telling anyone who didn't already know. It was always a secret. Even Duncan was the only Grey Warden who knew. And then after the battle, when I should have told you… I don't know, it seemed like it was too late by then. How do you just tell someone that?"

"I guess I can understand that," Elyssa sighed. "I didn't want anyone treating me different because of my name, you probably felt the same way."

"I… I should have told you anyway," he continued. "It was important for you to know. I guess part of me liked you not knowing."

"Why?" she asked, looking up at him. "What happens when people find out?"

"They treat me differently," he told her, looking off into the trees across the camp. "I become the bastard prince to them instead of just Alistair. I know that must sound stupid to you, but I hate that it's shaped my entire life. I never wanted it, and I certainly don't want to be king. The very idea of it terrifies me," he admitted softly.

"It doesn't sound stupid at all," she assured him, shifting her weight around so she could move closer to him. She enjoyed being with him like this. It felt good.

"For all the good it does me," he sighed. "My blood seems certain to haunt me no matter what I do. I guess I should be thankful that Arl Eamon is far more likely to inherit the throne. If he's alright… I hope he's alright." He finally looked down at her. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I… I guess I was just hoping you would like me for who I am. It was a dumb thing to do."

"Don't worry about it Alistair, no harm done," she assured him. 

"I guess it's kind of a relief that you know now," he admitted to her. They sat like that for a while, separating when the others began to wake. They kept sharing small grins whenever their eyes met, much to the annoyance of their companions.


	36. Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, you should recognize the town of Haven. It was the first home of the Inquisition. Yep, it was the Hero of Ferelden who found it first. But you need to hear what really happened.

They were almost at Haven when they were stopped by a band of darkspawn. Leading them was an Omega who surprised them with an extra-strong magical attack. Elyssa, Alistair, and Zevran were knocked to the ground and had trouble getting back to their feet. The magical flame was too much, and Elyssa found herself collapsing again. But Wynne did something that filled the others with energy again, and they got to their feet and fought off the darkspawn. Alistair's templar training was very helpful in taking down the Omega.

"That was interesting, and draining," Wynne muttered once the darkspawn were defeated.

"What was that?" Elyssa asked. "Did you summon the spirit?"

"I called forth the spirit that sustains me, so that it could lend us aid," she confirmed. "I did not realize it would take this much out of me. It seemed a good idea at the time, if a little rash--I think it may have weakened the spirit a little."

"That makes sense," Elyssa responded, still concerned.

"Anyway, I feel quite alright now, and it seems that my little trick could be useful in a pinch," the mage said in an attempt to reassure her Warden friend.

"You know yourself best," Elyssa conceded. 

"I promise I'll be careful," Wynne said. "And thank you. Your concern is touching." With that, they continued on their way. 

When they got to Haven, they were stopped first by a village guard.

"What are you doing in Haven?" he demanded, speaking quickly. "There is nothing for you here."

"So this is Haven?" Elyssa asked, feigning ignorance.

"What do you want?" the guard demanded again.

"I was just passing through," she lied. 

"You may trade for supplies at the shop," the guard said reluctantly. "Then, I suggest you leave." Great, so these people really didn't like outsiders. 

"Who are you?" the shopkeeper asked. "You're not from Haven…"

"Why does everyone tell me that like I don't already know it?" Elyssa sighed.

"We… we don't get very many visitors," he explained simply, though his voice had a tentative, possibly fearful hint to it. He showed her the goods he had, and they left the store. 

There was a house with an open door, at the base of the village, so Elyssa went inside to see if anyone inside was alright. Inside the house was an altar, with fresh blood running down the side. 

"Used for food preparation, perhaps?" Alistair suggested.

"I don't think so," Elyssa said after a moment. There was something weird going on in this village, and she had a feeling they were going to find out whether they wanted to or not. 

"I'm just trying to be optimistic," he admitted. "The other explanation is slightly more disturbing."

"I wonder…" Zevran said thoughtfully. "The Crows often made sacrifices of blood, and it gave them uncanny abilities."

"This village is not quite what it seems, is it?" Wynne asked, drawing out a small nod from Elyssa.

"But we have to keep moving," she said after a moment. "Genitivi should be here somewhere. Just… Be careful." They were attacked outside by a group of villagers. After the attack, Elyssa went back to camp where the others were waiting, and she had Zevran stay behind while Leliana came with her. Leliana was more practiced with a bow than Zevran was, after all. 

In the back room of the shop, instead of finding a bed or similar living area, there were a few bookshelves and a corpse. 

"It looks like one of Eamon's knights…" Elyssa observed with a sigh. "Guess we know why they went missing… Hopefully Genitivi is still alive. We need to find the Urn." 

Up another hill was the Haven Chantry. They went inside, only to see that the villagers were in the middle of a service. 

"…we are blessed beyond measure; we were chosen by the Holy and Beloved to be Her guardians," the man leading the service was saying. Wait, a man? Weren't women the ones who led Chantry services? A quick glance at Alistair told her that he was just as confused. "This sacred duty is given to us alone; rejoice, my brethren, and prepare your hearts to receive Her. Lift up your voices, and despair not, for She will raise Her faithful servants to glory when Her--" He fell silent when he saw Elyssa and her companions, and the gathered villagers looked almost scared of them. The man's eyes narrowed for a moment before his expression relaxed again. "Ah… welcome," he said to them. "I heard we had a visitor wandering about the village. I trust you've enjoyed your time in Haven so far?"

"You killed the knights of Redcliffe," Elyssa accused. "I saw the bodies."

"This, my brothers, is what happens when you let an outsider into the village," the man said coldly. "They have no respect for our privacy. She will tell others of us if we let her. Word will spread, and then what? You, stranger, do not understand our ways. You would bring war to Haven, in your ignorance."

"What about Brother Genitivi?" she demanded. "What have you done to him?"

"We don't owe you any explanations for our actions," he said defensively. "We have a sacred duty; failure to protect Her would be a greater sin. All will be forgiven." Then he and the soldiers in the room attacked. Once they were dead, Elyssa took the odd pendant from around the man's neck. Something so strange must be important. 

There was a doorway hidden behind a brick wall that moved out of the way when Elyssa presented the pendant. Inside the room was another man, but he looked wounded. 

"Who are you?" he asked when Elyssa got closer. "They… they've sent you to finish it?" 

"I'm Elyssa," she said, getting down on her knees so she wasn't towering over him as he lay on the ground. "I'm here to help you."

"You don't know how glad I am to see someone who isn't from this village. I--" He cut himself off with a groan as he tried to sit up. "The leg's not doing so well and… and I can't feel my foot." 

"Wynne, can you help?" Elyssa asked, looking over at her mage friend.

"I can set the leg and ease some of the pain, but he'll need a lot of rest in order to heal," she confirmed. 

"I don't have time to rest now, I'm so close" the man insisted, sounding frustrated. "The Urn is just up that mountain." Ah, so this must be Genitivi then.

"I need to find the Ashes," she told him. "Arl Eamon gets sicker by the day."

"The arl is sick? Will he live?" He seemed surprised by her admission, as if he hadn't already known about it. 

"Don't worry, we're going to save Eamon," she assured him. 

"The arl is a noble soul," Genitivi said with a sigh. "But the Ashes… the Ashes will surely cure him. Haven lies in the shadow of the mountain that holds the Urn. There is an old temple there, built to protect it. Eirik wears a medallion that opens the temple door… I've seen what he does with it."

"You mean this?" Elyssa asked, holding out the pendant that she pulled from the mage's body. 

"Yes, that is your key," he confirmed. "Take me to the mountainside, and I will show you."

"Are you sure you can make the journey?" she asked him.

"It is not that far and… will you let me lean on you?" he requested. "For the Urn, any pain is worth enduring." 

"First, let me make sure it's safe outside," she said, standing again.

"That's wise," he agreed. "There are many more villagers than the ones you've already dealt with." Elyssa nodded and went back outside to make sure there were no more villagers waiting to attack. Thankfully, there were none outside the chantry, and they went back inside. 

"Ah, you're back. Well?"

"Brother, I think you should know about your assistant," she said softly. 

"Weylon? What about him?" Genitivi asked, concerned. 

"They… had him killed," she told him slowly. "An imposter was put in his place."

"Ah, poor Weylon…" Genitivi said with a sigh. "I should never have dragged you into this… Maker take you into His hands, my boy."

"I'm sorry, Brother."

"He believed in me even when I lost faith in myself," he muttered. "I will honor his memory." He sighed softly. "Was there… was there something else you wanted to say?"

"I am ready to leave for the temple," she told him, offering her hand.

"Ah, good," he responded. "Help me up here, I'll try not to slow us down." 

Genitivi led them up the mountain, through a cave, to a locked door. Elyssa helped him up the stairs to the door.

"Here we are," he said, running a hand over the door. "Give me the medallion, and let's see if I remember." Elyssa handed it to him, and he messed with it a bit before revealing something that looked completely different. "And there. A key to open the way."

"How did you know how to do that?" she asked, surprised. 

"There are very few keys like this left in the world, but I have seen some," he told her. "When you find the right combination, it just… feels right. It is hard to explain." He looked back at the door, holding the opened medallion in his hand. "Now, let's see if we can open this door. There should be a place to insert this." 

"What about there?" Elyssa asked, pointing to a depression in the door. Genitivi nodded and put the medallion into the depression, and something in the door clicked just before it swung open. Genitivi limped through the door first, and Elyssa and the others followed after him. The inside of the temple was huge, stone pillars situated every so many feet and covered with carvings. 

"What I would give to have seen this hall in all its splendor, as it was meant to be…" Genetivi muttered, awed. "Still, sweep away the ice and snow, and traces of beauty remain."

"You need to stay alert now, Brother," Elyssa reminded him. 

"I'm sorry, what?" he said, turning to face her again. "I was a little distracted, I apologize." He limped over to one of the pillars and ran his fingers over the carvings. "These carvings were created just after Andraste's death, and they may reveal things about Her life that we do not yet know. I think I need more time to study these statues and carvings."

"You want to stay here?" she asked. "Is it safe?"

"I could not keep up with you with my injuries," he reminded her. "I should be safe; I don't think there are any villagers here. Go. I will be alright. Perhaps my destiny was only to lead you to the Urn."

"Is there anything else I need to know about the temple?" she asked him. 

"It was designed to protect the Urn from those who would steal it, or do harm to it -- namely, the Tevinter Imperium," he informed them. Elyssa nodded. That was one of the history lessons that every child in Ferelden learned; the story of how Andraste drove Tevinter from southern Thedas.

"I have no choice," she reminded him. "The arl needs the Ashes."

"I expected you would say something like that," he responded with a wry grin. "I'm not sure, the legends were never very specific on that point. _Only the faithful shall lay his eyes on the Sacred Ashes; death and misfortune await the unbeliever. The Maker's gaze has fallen on Andraste's final resting place. He weeps for His Beloved, and His wrath at Her betrayers endures._ "

"So, it is the wrath of the Maker that strikes men down?" Elyssa questioned, not completely buying the story. She believed in the Maker, sure, but the Chantry said the Maker had left them.

"That is what the legend says, and the Maker may indeed watch this place," Genitivi said. "Read between the lines, however, and you'll understand that it is merely a simple truth draped in hyperbole and metaphor. After all, no one wants to hear: _Willy toiled for many a year to perfect the curious mechanisms that would send a sharpened spike up the arse of the unwary intruder._ "

"Traps then?"

"I think my decision to stay here was the best one, don't you?" he asked. 

"Definitely," she agreed. "I will be back soon."

"I'll be here if you need me." Elyssa nodded and led her companions through the tunnels that branched about the temple.

"Hey, look at this," Elyssa said, picking up a scroll. They were in what appeared to be some sort of library. Books were everywhere; on the shelves, on the desk, even in piles on the floor. 

"What language is that?" Alistiar wondered aloud.

"All this used to be part of Tevinter, back before Andraste, right?" Elyssa remembered, still looking at the script on the scroll. "What if this is some sort of ancient Tevinter writing? Maybe someone in Denerim can translate this?" She put it with the Grey Warden treaties, with the intent on taking it to Denerim once they were done with everything here.

They went running around the place for a while looking for the keys, and near a set of doors were some strange three-headed statues. They went through another door and were attacked by an Ash Wraith and some other cultists. There were more Ash Wraiths in an adjacent room. Through more doors and up more stairs, and they ended up emerging into what looked like another collapsed part of the temple. They kept making their way through the tunnels, taking out cultists and dragonlings along the way. They came to a dead end with a pair of drakes, and after claiming the scales Elyssa spotted something glinting in the shadows. 

"Hey, Alistair, check this out," she said with a grin, holding up a statuette. "You like things like this, right?" She handed it over to him and they continued on their way. 

After hitting a few more dead ends, they came out into a tunnel where a group of men were waiting for them. 

"Stop!" demanded the one in the middle. "You will go no further." 

"And who are you?" Elyssa asked, one eyebrow raised. 

"You do not have the right to demand my name," he accused. "You have defiled our temple. You have spilled the blood of the faithful, and slaughtered our young. No more. You will tell me now, intruder, why you have done all this. Why have you come here?"

"I have come for the Urn of Sacred Ashes," she said coolly.

"You did this all for an ancient relic?" the man asked, sounding surprised. "Know this, stranger. The prophet Anddraste has overcome death itself and has returned to Her faithful in a form more radiant than you can imagine! Not even the Tevinter Imperium could hope to slay Her now. What hope do you have?"

"You are mad, Andraste is dead," Elyssa said, her voice hard. 

"You know nothing! Andraste revealed Herself to us!" he insisted. "We are Her Chosen!" Well, now the books on dragon cults in Genitivi's place made sense. "To arms, my brethren! Andraste will grant us victory!" Once again, Elyssa felt rather than saw Leliana and Wynne take a few steps back as she and Alistair drew their swords. With the cultists defeated, they made their way through the opening in the rock, where sunlight was streaming in. 

The tunnel led them out onto the mountaintop, and they paused to look around at the view before them. Thank the Maker that they did, too. A High Dragon came flying through the sky, a burst of flame blown right where they would have been standing had they kept moving. Alistair and Elyssa crouched behind what might have been part of a pillar at one point, while Leliana and Wynne hid behind an intact pillar. Elyssa looked over the crumbling stone at the dragon, which landed on a ledge a ways above and away from them. She sighed softly and stood again, keeping her attention on the dragon. 

"Be careful, and don't make too much noise," she told the others quickly. "That door over there's where we need to go. Stay quiet, and we should be able to get past it without much trouble." The others nodded at her, and they made their way across the mountaintop to the other door.


	37. The Gauntlet

On the other side of the door they were met by more stairs. Not surprising for a temple built into a mountain. Before the next door was another armored man. 

"I bid you welcome, pilgrim," he said as they approached. 

"Who are you?" Elyssa asked.

"I am the Guardian, the protector of the Urn of Sacred Ashes," he explained. "I have waited years for this."

"For me?" she asked, confused.

"You are the first to arrive in a very long time," he told her. "It has been my duty, my life, to protect the Urn and prepare the way for the faithful who come to revere Andraste. For years beyond counting I have been here, and shall I remain until my task is done and the Imperium has crumbled into the sea."

"The Imperium is no longer as powerful as it once was," she told him. 

"Ah… is it not?" he said, sounding almost happy. "Then perhaps this is the beginning of the end…"

"Who are the men who have taken over the rest of the temple?"

"When my brethren and I carried Andraste from Tevinter to this sanctuary, we vowed to forever revere Her memory, and guard Her," he explained. "I have watched generations of my brethren take up the mantle of their fathers. For centuries they did this, unwavering, joyful, in their appointed task. But now they have lost their way. They have forgotten Andraste, and their promise."

"So, the dragon isn't Andraste then?" she asked, having figured the dragon wasn't Andraste anyway. It didn't matter whether the dragon was Andraste reborn or not, she wasn't messing with a High Dragon.

"No," he confirmed. "Our Andraste has gone to the Maker's side. She will not return. The dragon is a fearsome creature, and they must have seen her as an alternative to the absent Maker and His silent Andraste. A true believer would not require audacious displays of power."

"I would like to see the Urn," she told him after a moment, and a quick glance at her companions. 

"You have come to honor Andraste, and you shall, if you prove yourself worthy," he said. 

"But what if I'm not?" she asked hesitantly. She was far from pure-hearted. Her unsated revenge still pulled at her heart and in the back of her mind.

"Then you will not come to the Ashes," the Guardian said simply. "It is not my place to decide your worthiness. The Gauntlet does that. If you are found worthy, you will see the Urn and be allowed to take a small pinch of the Ashes for yourself. If not…" He fell silent, the implications of his unfinished statement hanging heavily in the air. 

"What is the Gauntlet?" she asked.

"The Gauntlet tells the true pilgrims from the false," he explained. "You will undergo four tests of faith, and we shall see how your soul fares."

Elyssa took a breath before answering again. "Alright," she said. "Let's get this over with."

"Before you go, there is something I must ask," the Guardian said to them. "I see that the path that led you here was not easy. There is suffering in your past. Your suffering, and the suffering of others. You abandoned your father and mother, leaving them in the hands of Rendon Howe, knowing he would show no mercy." Elyssa looked away, eyes squeezed shut and hands balled into fists. "Do you think you failed your parents?" the Guardian asked her. She could feel the others watching her. 

"Yes," she finally admitted, her voice quiet. "I should have insisted that Mother come with me." She had finally confronted it. She hated herself for leaving her mother behind. 

"Thank you," the Guardian said gently. "That is all I wished to know."

"You're too hard on yourself," came Alistair's voice from beside her. "No one's perfect." She felt his hand around hers, and she twined her fingers with his, but she didn't look up yet. She didn't trust herself right now, she felt like she'd break down again if she looked at him. 

"Accept your failings, but do not let them govern your life," Wynne advised, her voice gentle as well.

"You could not have known what would happen," Leliana attempted. "You did what you thought was best." 

_No, I got dragged away as my father lay bleeding on the larder floor, and mother took her spot in the doorway,_ Elyssa countered silently. 

"And what of those that follow you?" the Guardian began again. "Alistair, knight and Warden… you wonder if things would have been different if you were with Duncan on the battlefield. You could have shielded him from the killing blow. You wonder, don't you, if you should have died, and not him?" 

"I… yes," Alistair admitted. Elyssa squeezed his hand when she heard his voice crack. "If Duncan had been saved, and not me, everything would be better. If I'd just had the chance, maybe…" She felt him squeeze her hand in return, and she finally looked up at him again. 

"Ask your question, Guardian, I am ready," Wynne said. 

"You are ever the advisor, ready with a word of wisdom," Guardian said, looking at her. "Do you wonder if you spout only platitudes, burned into your mind in the distant past? Perhaps you are only a tool used to spread the word of the Circle and the Chantry. Does doubt ever chip away at your truths?"

"You frame a statement in the form of a question, yet you already know our answers," she countered. "There is no sense in hiding, is there? Yes, I do doubt at times. Only the fool is completely certain of himself." 

"And you… why do you say the Maker speaks to you, when all know that the Maker has left?" Guardian asked, turning his gaze on Leliana next. "He spoke only to Andraste. Do you believe yourself Her equal?"

"I never said that! I--" she protested, but got cut off.

"In Orlais, you were **someone** ," Guardian continued. "In Lothering, you feared you would lose yourself, become a drab sister, and disappear. When your brothers and sisters of the cloister criticized you for what you professed, you were hurt, but you also reveled in it. It made you special. You enjoyed the attention, even if it was negative."

"You're saying I made it up for… for the attention? I did not! I know what I believe!" she insisted indignantly. Her answer seemed to satisfy Guardian.

"The way is open," he said as the door began to swing open behind him. "Good luck, and may you find what you seek." He disappeared in a flash of light. When the light faded, the door was open wide for them. Elyssa took a breath and proceeded through it, her hand slipping out of Alistair's as he took a position behind her, to her right. Inside the room were what appeared to be eight ghostly figures, just waiting for something to happen. So she went up to one of them, and it started to speak. 

"The smallest lark could carry it, while a strong man might not," the woman said. "Of what do I speak?"

 _Riddles? This I can handle,_ Elyssa told herself. She thought about the riddle for a moment before answering, "A tune."

"Yes," said the woman. "I was Andraste's dearest friend in childhood, and always we would sing. She celebrated the beauty of life, and all who heard Her would be filled with joy. They say the Maker Himself was moved by Andraste's song, and then She sang no more of simple things." With that, the first figure disappeared. So that was the secret of this first room then? Answer the riddles correctly to move on? That wouldn't be too hard, hopefully. 

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," said the next woman-ghost. "The debt of blood must be paid in full. Of what do I speak?"

"Vengeance," Elyssa responded immediately, her voice darker than it had been when she answered the previous riddle. Vengeance was something she knew well.

"Yes," the woman confirmed. "My husband, Hessarian, would have chosen a quick death for Andraste. I made him swear that She would die publicly, with Her warleaders, that all would know the Imperium's strength. I am justice. I am vengeance. Blood can only be repaid in blood." This form too vanished. Vengeance was something Elyssa knew well. But she couldn't let herself dwell on it, not right now. The next ghost looked like a man. 

"The bones of the world stretch toward s the sky's embrace," he said. "Veiled in white, like a bride greeting her groom. Of what do I speak?"

This one took a little thought, but Elyssa soon answered, "The mountains?" The anger in her voice earlier was gone. 

"Yes," the man said. "I carried Andraste's Ashes out of Tevinter into the mountains to the east where She could gaze ever into Her Maker's sky. No more fitting a tomb than this could we find." He disappeared as well, leaving only five more ghosts with riddles.

"No man has seen it, but all men know it," said the next ghost, another man. "Lighter than air, sharper than any sword. Comes from nothing, but will fell the strongest armies. Of what do I speak?"

It took a while for her to figure this one out, there were a few answers that she came to. The first one was Sickness, but that didn't feel quite right. Not everyone knew how it felt to be truly sick. Instead, she said, "Hunger."

"Yes, hunger was the weapon used against the wicked men of the Tevinter Imperium," the man-ghost said, sounding angry. "The Maker kindled the sun's flame, scorching the land. Their crops failed, and their armies could not march. Then He opened the heavens and bade the waters flow, and washed away their filth. I am Cathaire, disciple of Andraste and commander of Her armies. I saw these things done, and knew the Maker smiled on us." And, as the ones before him, Cathaire too disappeared. 

The next one was across the room, the first in the line of ghosts on the other side. 

"Echoes from a shadow realm, whispers of things yet to come," the woman began. "Thought's strange sister dwells in night, is swept away by dawning light. Of what do I speak?"

"Dreams," Elyssa answered after a minute. 

"A dream came upon me, as my daughter slumbered beneath my heart," the woman said. So, this was Andraste's mother? "It told of her life, and of her betrayal and death. I am sorrow and regret. I am a mother weeping bitter tears for a daughter she could not save." Elyssa felt the words pull at her heart, and she swore for a moment that she saw her own mother in that face before it vanished. Would her mother have felt that way if she were alive? Is that how her mother felt when Duncan took her away?

After a moment, she made her way to the next ghost. This one was shorter than the rest, and sported a pair of pointed ears. The others had all been important figures in Andraste's life so far, which meant this elf could only be Shartan. 

"I'm neither a guest nor a trespasser be; in this place I belong, that belongs also to me," he said. "Of what do I speak?"

"Home…" Elyssa said with a sigh, though there was no hesitation in her answer this time. Home was something she didn't have right now. Okay, not entirely true. She had Alistair, and she felt like she could be happy with him at her side.

"It was my dream for the people to have a home of their own, where we could have no masters but ourselves," he said. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and thus we followed Andraste, against the Imperium. But She was betrayed, and so were we." The ghost disappeared then. Elyssa sighed softly. She knew a lot about betrayal too. She hadn't forgotten what that traitor had done to her.

"A poison of the soul, passion's cruel counterpart; from love she grows, till love lies slain," the next man said. "Of what do I speak?"

"Jealousy," Elyssa responded.

"Yes, jealousy drove me to betrayal," he said. That meant… This was Maferath, Andraste's husband. "I was the greatest general of the Alamarri, but beside Her I was nothing. Hundreds fell before Her on bended knee. They loved Her, as did the Maker. I loved her too, but what man can compare with a god?" And he too disappeared.

Okay, were these ghosts trying to tell her something? These were things she'd been dealing with too. Well, some of them. 

The last one appeared to be wearing Tevinter robes. Was this… Archon Hessarian?

"She wields the broken sword, and separates true kings from tyrants," he said to her. "Of what do I speak?"

"Mercy?" Elyssa answered, though she didn't sound completely sure.

"Yes," he confirmed. "I could not bear the sight of Andraste's suffering, and mercy bade me end her life. I am the penitent sinner, who shows compassion as he hopes compassion will be shown unto him." Then he vanished, and the door opened. Elyssa froze in the doorway when she saw who stood there.

"My dearest child…" he said gently, turning to face her. Already she could feel her throat tightening, and her vision began to swim. 

"Father?" she muttered, slowly walking up to him. The others followed behind, but she had forgotten them for the moment.

"You know that I am gone, and all your prayers and wishes will not bring me back," he said, a sad look in his eyes. Tears began running down her cheeks. "No more must you grieve, my girl. Take the pain and the guilt, acknowledge it, and let it go. It is time." He placed a hand on her cheek, and brushed away her tears with his thumb. "You have such a long road ahead of you, and you must be prepared. And so, I leave this in your hands…" His hand slipped down her arm, taking hers in his, and he placed something in her palm before wrapping her fingers around it. "I know you will do great things with it." 

"Father!" she cried as his disappeared. Suddenly, Alistair was at her side, and she found herself in his arms again. She stayed there for a few minutes, but recovered quickly. Wynne and Leliana didn't say anything, and she was glad for that. So they continued around the walls and into the next room.

They were met by copies of themselves, dark shadow versions of themselves with evil looks on their faces. 

"Alistair! You and me in close range!" Elyssa ordered quickly, drawing her sword. "Wynne, Leliana, try to stay out of range. We can do this." The fight was hard, but they won, and the door opened to reveal a puzzle of some sort. 

"Maker's breath… Andraste only favored the clever, it seems," Alistair muttered as they crossed the bridge that had formed upon the puzzle's completion into the next room. There was an altar before a line of flame.

" _Cast off the trappings of worldly life and cloak yourself in the goodness of spirit. King and slave, lord and beggar; be born anew in the Maker's sight,_ " Elyssa read the inscription on the altar. Her face paled slightly, and then her cheeks reddened. Did that mean what she thought it meant? She glanced at the others and saw similar awkwardness in their own stances and faces. She took a breath and started by removing her gloves and shoes, and she heard the others following suit. This was embarrassing… But they all were avoiding looking at each other, especially herself and Alistair. Now that they were bare, Elyssa walked toward the fire and went through without a problem. She quickly redressed, and she heard the others doing the same behind her. 

"You have been through the trials of the Gauntlet; you have walked the oath of Andraste, and like Her, you have been cleansed," Guardian said, walking through the door once they were all dressed again. "You have proven yourself worthy, pilgrim. Approach the Sacred Ashes." Then he vanished again. Elyssa turned and walked slowly up the stairs to where the Urn of Sacred Ashes sat at the base of a statue of Andraste.

"I never dreamed I would ever lay my eyes on the Urn of Sacred Ashes…" Leliana muttered softly. "I… I-I-I have no words to express--"

"I didn't think anyone could succeed in finding Andraste's final resting place…" Alistair said quietly. "But here… here She is…"

"I could not have asked for a greater honor than to be here," Wynne said. "I will never forget this feeling."

Elyssa sighed softly, wiping at the tear tracks on her cheeks. She pulled out a small pouch and took a pinch of the ashes, putting them into the pouch. She looked up at the statue.

 _Andraste, look after Fergus for me,_ she prayed silently. _If he is still alive, he's going to need all the help he can get. If he's not… well… look after them all for me, please? They didn't need to die…_ She turned around and walked back down the stairs, heading out a side door. They went through the temple back to the main hall and found Genitivi again.

"Welcome back," he said when he saw them. "You were gone for quite some time. Well? Did you find it?"

"The Urn? Yes," Elyssa said with a nod. 

"What… what was it like?" he asked hesitantly. "Coming to the Urn, I mean?"

"Nothing has touched me quite so deeply," she admitted truthfully. 

"You are a very fortunate person," he said with a small nod. "And so am I." He ran his fingers over the carvings in the nearby pillar. "Perhaps my research will not seem so much like blasphemy to the Chantry now. We must organize an expedition. There is so much history here. It must be studied. And… and pilgrims should be allowed to come to the Urn."

"That is not wise," Elyssa said slowly. "Many will try to exploit this discovery." Not to mention that this place was the lair of a High Dragon.

"But the Urn belongs to all the faithful," he protested. "How can you deny this to them? No… we must share it."

"I agree," Leliana said. "We cannot withhold this from other. It is not our place."

"You have noble intentions, Brother Genitivi, but can you say the same of your brethren in the Chantry?" Wynne asked.

"So everyone comes by and takes some of the ashes from the Urn?" Alistair questioned. "I hope that Urn is self replenishing." Elyssa rolled her eyes at him. 

"Alistair, bad time for jokes," she said to him.

"Sorry," he said quickly.

"I will spread this good news, or die trying," Genitivi said, determined. Elyssa sighed.

"If something bad comes of this, it's your fault," she conceded reluctantly. 

"I must return home," he said to them. "I have much to do. If you ever find yourself in Denerim, please visit me. I am not a rich man, but I have a small collection of… interesting artifacts, and I do owe you a reward for coming to my rescue. I hope to see you soon, my friend." Elyssa nodded and watched as Genitivi descended the stairs. Was him going that far on his own really a good idea? His leg was in pretty bad shape, after all. After a moment, Elyssa followed him. They walked together until the road forked at Redcliffe Village, and Elyssa went toward Redcliffe Castle while Genitivi continued along the lake to the highway, to get to Denerim.


	38. The Arl of Redcliffe

They made it back to Redcliffe Castle without any trouble, and the guards at the gate waved them in. They went inside and into the main hall, where Teagan and was waiting for them.

"You return," he said quickly when they approached. "Might you have news?"

"I found the Urn," she said with the barest trace of a smile. 

"You have? Wonderful! Let us go at once to Eamon's side and see if the Urn's healing powers live up to their reputation," Teagan insisted. Elyssa nodded and followed him through the castle. She handed the pouch of ashes to the healer and stepped back.

Alistair took her hand in his as they stood there, and she looked down at the pendant that she'd gotten from her father in the Gauntlet. It was an old thing, with an ancient Chantry symbol on the front. She had put it around her neck, and it rested next to her Warden's Oath pendant. Something in her heart had felt lighter since hearing her father's voice tell her that it was okay for her to begin to heal. She glanced over at Alistair, but his focus was entirely on Arl Eamon, who began to stir and opened his eyes. The tension in the room eased, and everyone seemed to relax. 

"Wh-where am I?" he asked softly.

"Be calm, brother," Teagan said gently. "You have been deathly ill for a very long time. Do you remember nothing?"

"Teagan? What are you doing here?" Eamon asked. "Where is Isolde?"

"I am here, my husband," she said having moved to his bedside while Teagan was talking. Elyssa felt the telltale heat at the back of her throat when she saw the look on Eamon's face. She couldn't keep watching, instead averting her gaze. The image of Oriana had overlaid itself on Lady Isolde in the moment she spoke.

"And Connor?" Eamon asked. "Where is my boy? Where is our son?"

"He lives, though many others are dead," Isolde told him. "There is much to tell you, husband." 

"Dead?" he asked, sounding bewildered and sad. "Then… it was not a dream?" 

"Much has happened since you fell ill, brother," Teagan said. "Some of it will not be… easy for you to hear." At this point, Elyssa slipped out of the room, with Alistair behind her. She sighed and leaned against the opposite wall from the door, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor. Alistair sat next to her. 

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, putting an arm around her shoulder. Wynne and Leliana had continued down the hall to another room. 

"I… I will be," she said, her voice shaking. She leaned into him and closed her eyes. "They remind me too much of Fergus… Of his wife, Oriana, and their son Oren…" She sighed. "Oren was almost Connor's age when Highever Castle was attacked. Oren was just a boy when he was killed. Oriana had always been against me knowing how to fight, but my skill with a sword was exactly what saved me that day." She fell silent and shifted her weight around a bit, resting one hand on his chest. "Just… let me stay like this for a while?"

"As long as you need it," he said gently, dropping a soft kiss on her head. She rewarded him with a small smile as she simply sat there, her head on his shoulder.

Later, they all met in the main hall to talk more. 

"This is most troubling," Eamon said, turning around to face them. "There is much to be done, that is true. But I should first be thankful to those who have done so much. Grey Warden, you have not only saved my life but kept my family safe as well. I am in your debt. Will you permit me to offer you a reward for your service?"

"If you'd like, I won't object," she said simply, a little embarrassed. 

"Then allow me to declare you and those traveling with you champions of Redcliffe," he said. "You will always be a welcome guest within these halls. And for you, Warden, a shield of the same make as those that have been given to our finest knights." 

"Thank you, your grace," Elyssa responded politely.

"We should speak of Loghain, brother," Teagan reminded them. "There is no telling what he will do once he learns of your recovery." 

"Loghain instigates a civil war even though the darkspawn are on our very doorstep," Eamon said with a sigh and shake of his head. "Long have I known him. He is a sensible man, one who never desired power."

"I was there when he announced he was taking control of the throne, Eamon," Teagan continued. "He is mad with ambition, I tell you."

"Mad indeed. Mad enough to kill Cailan, to attempt to kill myself and destroy my lands," Eamon said. "Whatever happened to him, Loghain must be stopped. What's more, we can scarce afford to fight this war to its bitter end."

"What are you proposing then?" Elyssa said in a subtle challenge. 

"We have no time to wage a campaign against him," Eamon admitted. "Someone must surrender if Ferelden is to have any chance at fighting the darkspawn."

"But once everyone learns what he's done--" Elyssa began.

"I will spread word of Loghain's treachery, both here and against the king," Eamon interrupted. "But it will be but a claim made without proof. Those claims will give Loghain's allies pause, but we must combine it with a challenge Loghain cannot ignore. We need someone with a stronger claim to the throne than Loghain's daughter, the queen. I would not propose such a thing if we had an alternative, but the unthinkable has occurred."

"You intend to put Alistair forward as king?" Elyssa asked, glancing at Alistair.

"Teagan and I have a claim through marriage, but we would seem opportunists, no better than Loghain," Eamon told them. "Alistair's claim is by blood."

"And what about me?" Alistair protested. "Does anyone care what I want?"

"You have a responsibility, Alistair," Eamon said in an attempt to convince him. "Without you, Loghain wins. I would have to support him, for the sake of Ferelden. Is that what you want?"

"I… but I… no, my lord," he conceded with a sigh.

"I see only one way to proceed," Eamon continued. "I will call for a Landsmeet, a gathering of all of Ferelden's nobility in the city of Denerim. There, Ferelden can decide who shall rule, one way or another. Then the business of fighting our true foe can begin. What say you to that, my friend? I do not wish to proceed without your blessing."

"I say we proceed with your plan," Elyssa said with a nod. 

"Very well, I will send out the word," he said. "But before we proceed, I believe there is the matter of the mage… my son's tutor. He still lives, I understand."

"He does," Teagan confirmed. "He is in the dungeon, brother."

"Have him brought here, Teagan. I wish to see him." 

It didn't take long for Teagan to bring Jowan up to the main hall from the cells below. Elyssa gave him a cold glare.

"Jowan. What you have done is not in question," Eamon said to the mage. "You tried to assassinate me and set into motion a series of events that nearly destroyed everything I cherish. What have you to say in your own defense?"

"Nothing, my lord… other than to say I am sorry," Jowan said slowly. "I expect no mercy for what I have done."

"I see. Grey Warden, have you anything to say on Jowan's behalf?" 

"No, I have nothing to add," she said coolly.

"Then there is nothing more to say," Eamon said, eyes flashing. "Jowan, I hereby sentence you to death. May the Maker show you the mercy we cannot."

"Thank you, my lord," Jowan said with a bow before he was led from the hall. 

"Now, back to the matter of the Landsmeet," Eamon said. "It will take some time to recall my forces and organize our allies. I would prefer to wait until that is done before calling the Landsmeet. In the meantime, I suggest you pursue the remainder of the Grey Warden treaties. We will need all the allies we can get if we are to defeat the darkspawn horde." Elyssa bowed and left the castle. She stopped by the blacksmith's in the village to make sure the girl had gotten back home after she'd stormed the castle, and then they were off toward Orzammar.


	39. The First Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very good at chapter names, apparently...

"Alright, I guess I really don't know how to ask you this," Alistair said to her once camp was set up. 

"Ask me what?" she responded, standing up from where she'd been sitting by the fire. 

"Oh, how do I say this?" he muttered. "You'd think it would be easier, but every time I'm around you, I feel as if my head's about to explode. I-I can't think straight." Elyssa felt a hint of color drawn to her cheeks.

"I feel the same way," she assured him, taking one of his hands in her own. 

"Well, I hope you mean the head exploding thing in a good way," he joked. She laughed softly and nodded. "Here's the thing: being near you makes me crazy, but I can't imagine being without you. Not ever. I don't know how to say this another way. I want to spend the night with you. Here, in the camp. Maybe this is too fast, I don't know, but… I know what I feel." 

"You want to spend the night? Are you sure?" she asked softly. 

"I wanted to wait for the perfect time, the perfect place… but when will it be perfect?" he said seriously. "If things were, we wouldn't even have met. We sort of… stumbled into each other, and despite this being the least perfect time, I still found myself falling for you in between all the fighting and everything else. I really don't want to wait anymore. I've… I've never done this before. You know that. I want it to be with you… while we have the chance. In case…"

"No need to say anything else," she said, stepping closer to him. "I agree." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, and she led him to her tent. His touch made her skin heat up, and she felt so comfortable with him like this. For someone who hadn't done this before, he seemed to know what he was doing. She fell asleep in his arms after.

Her eyes fluttered open the next morning, to the pale light of dawn leaking through the tent. She felt so comfortable in his arms… this was where she wanted to stay for the rest of her life, if she could. Laying in the arms of the man she loved… 

She felt him begin to stir, and she ran her fingers through his hair. "Good morning, my dear," she said softly when his eyes opened. They shared a kiss, and then their foreheads met. 

"I know what I said last night, but this feels pretty close to perfect," he muttered softly.

"I agree," she said with a smile. "But we do need to get up… It's dawn, and we need to get moving…" He kissed her one more time and the two of them dressed and exited the tent.

"You know, according to all the sisters at the monastery, I should have been struck by lightning by now," Alistair said with a grin. 

"That so?" she asked with a laugh. 

"Yep. Lightning first, then the end of civilization as we know it," he joked. "I'm a bad, bad man." He glanced around the camp. "You do realize the rest of our little party here is going to talk, right? They do that."

"First smart comment and I feed them to the darkspawn," she said, hooking her shield into place on her back and slipping the sword into its sheath.

"See? This is why I love you," he said with a grin, dropping a quick kiss on her cheek. "So, what now? Where do we go from here?" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she put her hand on top of his.

"We stay together, no matter what happens," she said, looking up at him. 

"Right, I can handle that. I hope," he said quickly. He sighed and shook his head, sitting down next to her. "Before we go, have I told you that I love you? I did? Well, it won't kill you to hear it again, will it?"

"I love you too," she said with a smile. And she did. She loved him, more than she ever thought possible. 

"See? Was that so hard?" he poked. She laughed and searched through her pack to make sure she had everything she'd need for that day.

"You know, I need to thank Fergus, when I see him again," she said after a moment. "He kept saying I'd find a man someday who could handle me." There was a sad look in her eyes as she straightened, fingering the pendant she'd been given from the spirit who took her father's form in the Gauntlet. "Watching how he doted on Oriana and Oren used to confuse me to no end when I was younger, but now… I think I understand why he did. He said I'd understand when there was a man in my life, after all." Alistair put his hand over hers. 

"Like you said back in Lothering, if he escaped the horde he'll have gone north," he reminded her. "Maybe he's back in Highever already. Maybe he's somewhere in Denerim." 

"Thanks Alistair," she said with a small smile. "Fergus can take care of himself, and my first priority has to be stopping the Blight. But… despite everything, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Even with the attack?"

"Even with the attack," she nodded. "Because of the attack, I got to meet you." She ran her fingers through her hair. It had grown out a bit from the short cut she'd preferred in Highever. Now it was long enough to touch her ears, and it was hard to get used to. "Hey, Alistair, where do you see this going between us?" she asked suddenly.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Arl Eamon wants to make me king at the Landsmeet. I never ever wanted that, not in my wildest dreams… but I won't refuse it if its in the best interest of the nation either." He turned to look at her. "I love you. You know that, right? But I have no idea what being king will mean for us. I'll have to think about that."

"If we care about each other, that's all that matters," she reminded him.

"I agree," he said. "I don't intend to do anything to jeopardize that, trust me." He stood and walked out of camp, toward the river they'd found the night before. Elyssa stood and walked over to where Wynne was gathering her things.

"Have you changed your mind about Alistair and me?" she asked.

"I have watched you for a time and… perhaps I was wrong," the old mage admitted. "There seems to be something special between the two of you. He seems less guarded when in your company, allows himself to relax. And he seems genuinely happy."

"Well, I am happy with him," Elyssa responded.

"I think I was too harsh in my judgment before, and I am sorry," Wynne apologized. 

"You were just looking out for us. You wanted the best for both of us," she said with a small smile. 

"What you have may not last forever; death and duty may part you, but love's worthiness is not diminished because of that. I should have seen this before," she admitted. "Instead, you learn to cherish every precious moment that you spend together, knowing that it may be the last. And for those of us watching… well, it brings warmth to these old bones to know that something so beautiful can be fund in the midst of chaos and strife." Elyssa smiled and nodded before walking off. 

She knew Wynne had just been looking out for them both. Elyssa went back over to her tent and started taking it apart while she thought. Wynne had already become a maternal figure to her, though they hadn't known each other very long. Already, everyone was starting to feel like family. Even Zevran, and he'd tried to kill her. Alistair was… well… that was obvious. Leliana and Morrigan both were almost like sisters, though they were very different. Sten was the cousin that only went along with it because he wasn't really sure what else to do. And then there was her ever-loyal mabari. Kenai chose that moment to come over to her, wagging his tail and looking up at her with a rather large stick in his mouth. She smiled and took the stick, tossing it toward the far edge of camp and watching him run after it. He picked it up and brought it back. The others kept breaking camp while she kept her hound entertained. Leliana smiled at the hound, and even Morrigan stopped to watch for a while. None of them had seen her so relaxed before. It was refreshing. 

She went through her pack one last time before they left and found something scribbled on a piece of paper. What she saw caused her to pause. This was the map from that member of Cailan's guard they'd met before… The guard who had died in front of them from his injuries. 

"We're going south," she told the others.

"Toward the horde?" Leliana questioned.

"Yes," she said, her voice hard. "There's a few things we need to find in Ostagar. When we get there, the four of us will go back inside." She motioned to Leliana, Wynne, and Alistair. "It's going to be swarming with darkspawn, so if you want to stay in camp say so now." Wynne and Alistair looked at each other, then back at her. Elyssa was looking at Leliana. "The horde claimed Ostagar long before Lothering fell. It won't be easy. But we have to do this." She caught a look from Sten that said he thought this was a waste of time, and a slightly worried look from Morrigan, but nobody said anything. Maybe it was the tone in her voice, or the look on her face. So they made their way south, toward Ostagar. Toward the place that changed her life for the second time in as many days. Had it only been a few short months ago? It felt like years…


	40. Return to Ostagar

Ostagar was covered with snow. The darkspawn, and the battle, and changed the place from what she remembered. It was familiar and foreign at the same time. She led them through the snow, keeping her guard up for the first wave of darkspawn that she was sure would be coming soon. And, of course, it did. They were attacked by a few genlocks who they quickly dispatched. 

"Something about returning here makes me feel old, Wynne," Alistair said quietly.

"And what exactly are you implying, Alistair?" she asked, her voice even.

"What? No-nothing!" he insisted. "I just thought…"

"You just thought I might be an expert at feeling old and could share some sage advice?" Wynne finished for him. Elyssa had to hide her grin. 

"I just mean that I was a different person then," he said, trying to recover. "I believed him, you know? That it would be a glorious battle, that we'd win…"

"I did too," she responded gently. "We were all a bit younger the last time we were here." 

"Well, not you. You've always been old," Alistair muttered. 

"With lips like that, son, you'll be lucky if you live to be half my age." Elyssa laughed as they kept walking. 

"Hey, Alistair, this is…" 

"Where we first met," he finished, looking over at her. "So much has happened since then…" Elyssa walked through the snow-covered clearing and into the next area.

"What is…?" she muttered, picking up a familiar chalice. "Alistair, take a look at this."

"That's the Joining Chalice," he said when he stood next to her. "I can't believe it's still in one piece." Elyssa looked down at it, remembering the day she drank from the chalice, the fire in her blood… the second day her life changed forever. 

"Why don't you hold on to it," she suggested, handing it to him. He took it from her without a word. He was the senior Warden now, even though he really only had about six months on her. Which made her wonder why he was okay with her leading, but that wasn't worth bringing up. 

She led them back through the snow and down the steps, into the area where they had all made camp. Right by the stairs on the left had been the mages tent, while on the right was where the quartermaster had set up shop. All that was left of the Quartermaster's spot was a sword stuck in the ground. Even where his fire had been, something else had been placed there by the darkspawn. Only a frame remained from the mage's tent. 

They kept walking, past the kennels and the platform where the woman from the Chantry had been doing her thing. Not the most reverent way to think about it, but Elyssa didn't care at this point. Before them sat what had been the Warden's fire. Elyssa turned away and walked back to where the statues were and found the key Elric had buried. She clenched it in her fist and stood. She didn't want to go over toward the fire. It made Duncan's death fresh again. It brought back too many memories about the first time she was here. She'd been here all of a single day, and then everything had gone wrong… Again. 

They were supposed to fight the Darkspawn and win, with the plan Loghain and the late King Cailan had come up with. Elyssa and Alistair had climbed the Tower of Ishal to light the beacon, and then they had been overwhelmed. Loghain had failed in his part of the battle. He never joined the battle at all, instead retreating with his soldiers that were left. He had betrayed them, and now he was trying to run Ferelden as Queen Anora's regent. It was time for him to get what was coming to him.

But they had to keep moving, so she did. They fought a Hurlock Vanguard who was using Cailan's Shield, which she took from its corpse. No way were they going to keep his arms or armor, not if she had a say in it. 

She'd only met Cailan a few times, though he hadn't seemed to remember them. The same day Anora was brought to him as a potential wife, so had Elyssa been. But she had been much younger, and Cailan enraptured with Anora. She barely remembered it herself, truth be told. 

A hand on her shoulder broke her out of her thoughts, and she looked over into Alistair's face. She managed a small smile as she looked at Cailan's shield. 

"It's only right for you to use it," she told him. "You're his brother." Besides, she couldn't part with her own shield. She wouldn't let herself. 

There was barely a frame left of the late king's tent. But the chest was still inside. She opened it and took the letters, and the sword. According to the letters, Cailan had convinced Orlais to ally with them against the darkspawn, and was only waiting for the king's reply. A reply that would never come, thanks to Loghain.

"That looks like… King Mauric's blade," Alistair said when he saw it in Elyssa's hands. 

"Then you should use it," she said quickly. "It's only right." Alistair gave her a strange look, but agreed. 

More darkspawn up where the archers had been training. And past that, more destruction. They went around the tower, after killing the darkspawn, and Elyssa stopped. 

"Alistair, look… On the bridge. What is that?" she asked, pointing at an odd pyramid-shaped structure. 

"I don't know," he admitted. "But we have to go that way to get to the tower, so I bet we'll find out." Elyssa nodded, turning around to find a path to the bridge. The path wasn't too hard to find, and looking across the bridge from one end, it looked like something was strung up on the odd structure. But it looked like it was made of sticks. How was it able to hold anything beyond it's own weight?

Her heart fell when they got closer. That wasn't something, but someone. And it wasn't just any someone. The darkspawn had strung King Cailan up like he was some trophy. Elyssa remembered her arrival in Ostagar, how he had promised to turn the army north and help her retake Highever when that day's battle was over. But the battle had been lost. And… Maybe Highever was too…

But a genlock who knew necromancy showed up and broke Elyssa out of her thoughts, and she readied her sword. By the time they'd defeated the skeletons, the genlock had run off. 

She stood before Cailan again, feeling a sadly familiar burning in the back of her throat. 

"Forgive us, my king," Alistair muttered. "Once we've flushed the darkspawn from their holes and bought ourselves some time, we'll be back to see you to the Maker." Elyssa led them the rest of the way down the bridge, biting her lip in an attempt to hold back the tears. Seeing Cailan's body made her remember her own brother. And she'd actually liked Cailan, the few times she'd met him. 

At the base of the tower was another band of darkspawn, this one with a hurlock magic-user leading them. This one had another piece of Cailan's armor, which Elyssa relieved him of. And then it was off to the tower. One of the hurlock generals at the tower's door had another of Cailan's armor, which again Elyssa took from him. 

An ogre had been waiting for them just inside the tower, but they took care of it with ease. Odd how simple it was now to kill an ogre, when they had struggled with it before.

When they came to the hole that led under the tower, the door at the other end of the room had been barricaded from the other side. 

"Looks like this is the only way forward," she muttered before making her way into it, trying not to fall.

The tunnels were full of darkspawn, and a few giant spiders. They continued along it, trying to find where it led. They were swarmed by more spiders when they found the end, but they died easily. And out they went. 

The tunnel led to the battlefield. That was how the darkspawn had gotten into the tower in the first place. She'd figured as much the first time they stumbled across the hole, but this confirmed it. Hopefully they had tracked down the damn necromancer now and could kill it. She was ready for this to be done. As they came around into the clearing, looking up at the bridge once again brought back memories of the second night to change her life. But then, her attention was diverted by the darkspawn necromancer who brought back an ogre with two blades in its chest. She recognized both blades, too. Those were Duncan's. His sword and dagger. No way was she just going to leave them here. 

"I'll get the necromancer! The rest of you, focus on that ogre!" she told them, running past the ogre and after the genlock. With the necromancer dead, the skeletons and the ogre both fell to the ground again, and the battlefield was still once more. Alistair and Wynne talked for a bit, but Elyssa tuned them out as she pulled the last piece of Cailan's armor off the necromancer. There, now they had all of it. All that was left to do was to see to the late king's body. So they went back through the tunnel and out the tower, then back across the bridge.

"Alistair, are you alright?" Wynne asked. 

"Ug, they've left him here to rot," he muttered. "We need to do something." 

"He is of royal blood and deserves a pyre," Elyssa said softly. She looked over at Alistair. "Help me get him down?"

"Of course," he responded, a bit surprised to see the deep sadness in her eyes. He looked back at King Cailan's body. "He was a good man who hoped too much and died too young. He deserves what little honor we can afford to grant him." Together, they worked to take down the weird three-legged structure and take him off it. Down on the battlefield, they collected a large amount of wood and used it as the late king's funeral pyre. 

"If not for the darkspawn, all of Denerim would be present…" she sighed softly. "Come on, we have more treaties to fill. Let's get moving." Elyssa noticed that, throughout all of this, Leliana had stayed silent. On their way out, Elyssa paused once again at the fire pit where she and the other recruits had gathered.


	41. Asala

They camped not far from the King's Road that night, after they got as far from Ostagar as they could. There were just too many darkspawn for them to be able to camp nearby. Elyssa was kneeling near the fire when she noticed Sten happened to be nearby. She had to admit that she was curious about him. 

"Hey, Sten, why were you imprisoned?" she asked slowly, hoping she wasn't about to regret asking. 

"I caged myself," he said, surprising her. "A weak mind is a deadly foe, as you are no doubt aware." 

"What do you mean by _a weak mind_?" she asked, looking up at him. Her hands were folded elegantly in her lap, though she didn't realize she was doing it. 

"That is… complicated," he said vaguely. After a moment, he continued speaking. "I told you before that I was sent here. I was not sent alone. I came to your lands with seven of the Beresaad--my brothers--to seek answers about the Blight. We made our way across the Ferelden countryside without incident, seeing nothing of the threat we were sent to observe. Until the night we camped by Lake Calenhad." He paused again, and Elyssa turned to look into the fire again. She felt the weight of both pendants around her neck. "They came from everywhere: the earth beneath our feet, the air above us, our own shadows harbored the darkspawn. I saw the last of the creatures cut down, too late. I fell." 

"That sounds like what happened to me at Ostagar," she said softly. She glanced up and saw Alistair and Zevran returning with the wild game they'd managed to catch for dinner. 

"I heard the stories of Ostagar. Your kith stood their ground when others fled. No one can do more than that," he said to her. His reassurance surprised her. Maybe they were becoming friends after all. Or maybe he could relate to her experience at Ostagar more than he was letting on. "I don't know how long I lay on the battlefield among the dead, nor do I know how the farmers found me. I only know that when I woke, I was no longer among my brothers. And my sword was gone from my hand."

"You probably dropped it on the battlefield," she said to him. 

"Perhaps," he responded, sounding skeptical. "I searched for it. And when that failed, I asked my rescuers what had become of it."

"And then?" Elyssa prompted, wanting to know the rest.

"I killed them," he said simply. "With my bare hands." Elyssa looked up at him, startled. He glanced down at her. "I did. I knew they didn't have the blade. They had no reason to lie to me. I panicked. Unthinking, I struck them down."

"I think I can understand," she admitted, catching him by surprise. "My sword and shield are usually only carried by the Teyrn of Highever, but the last time Father used them was when he fought in the Orlesian Occupation, when I was still very young. The sword has a history as far back as King Calenhad, four ages ago. The shield was used by my great-grandfather Teyrn Ardal Cousland during the second Orlesian Invasion. If I lost either of them, I would probably panic too." 

"That sword was made for my hand alone," Sten continued. "I have carried it from the day I was set into the Beresaad. I was to die weilding it for my people. Even if I should cross Ferelden and Tevinter unarmed and alone to bring my report to the arishok, I would be slain on sight by the antaam. They would know me as soulless, a deserter. No soldier would cast aside his blade while he drew breath."

"Couldn't you search for it?" she asked, already thinking.

"If I knew where to look, it would be in my hand now," he responded, sounding frustrated.

"Where did you say you fought the darkspawn?"

"Near Lake Calenhad," he repeated.

"I'll track it down," she promised. 

"Perhaps those words are empty, but… thank you all the same," he said, a bit awkwardly, before walking off. Elyssa sighed softly. What would Mother have said about her teaming up with a qunari, of all people? A qunari warrior, an elven assassin, a mage, a chantry sister, a bastard prince, and a second-born noble. They were quite a group. 

After they finished eating, Zevran and Elyssa took the first watch. About an hour into it, he came over to her.

"I've a question, if I may," he said to her, seeming a bit hesitant.

"Go ahead," she said simply. They were standing near the edge of the firelight, opposite the tents. 

"Well, here is the thing: I swore an oath to serve you, yes? And I understand the quest you're on and this is all very fine and well," he began, if a bit awkward. "My question pertains to what you intend to do with me once this business is over with. As a point of curiosity."

"You could go, if you wanted," she said with a shrug. She'd actually come to trust the elf, a bit. He hadn't tried to kill her since she made the offer for him to join the group, and nothing had suddenly gone missing, so that was something at least. 

"Could I? And what if I didn't wish to leave?" he countered.

"I could always use a friend," she told him, a small smile on her face. It was different from the one she wore when talking to Alistair, and Zevran noticed. Alistair got a playful, almost flirty smile from Elyssa. The one she gave Zevran was kind and genuine. 

"Indeed?" he wondered. "Hmm. I might even be glad to call myself such, come to think of it. It is good to know what my options might be. But that is for another time." She nodded. They were on guard duty, after all. 

The next morning, they were packing up camp to move on, closer to Lake Calenhad so Elyssa could make good on her promise to Sten, and she was helping Wynne with something while busy thinking.

"As a Grey Warden, I'll never lead a normal life, will I?" she wondered aloud. 

"No, you won't," Wynne responded. 

"But I don't think I was ever meant to be normal," Elyssa responded with a laugh. 

"I don't think so either," Wynne agreed. "You would not have been happy living a dull, uneventful life, dying in obscurity." She paused. "You wonder sometimes, don't you? If your life would be better if you weren't who you are."

"A little," Elyssa admitted. She had wondered before what her life would have been like if she hadn't been born a nobleman's daughter. Then the castle would've just been a fantasy of some sort.

"When I was a young woman in the tower I came to the realization that the Circle would be my life, and I would know no other," Wynne continued. "Family, love, a simple life--these were things that others took for granted, that I would never have."

"And this upset you?" Elyssa wondered.

"It made me very moody," the mage confirmed. "All I could think of was being trapped in that tower, with no way out and no end in sight. I started hating my life, and myself, and one night I found myself in the tower's chapel. I was seeking refuge, maybe answers…" she fell silent.

"Did you find anything?" 

"I must have looked tearful, or made some noise, because the revered mother came out and decided to speak to me," she continued again. "And because I had no one else to talk to, I talked to her. I must have said many silly things… But she told me that the Maker puts us all on our paths for a reason, and fighting our intended course is what causes so much anguish." 

Elyssa sighed softly, sheathing her sword and making sure her armor was on securely. "I think she's right," she admitted.

"I thought the old biddy was full of rubbish," the mage scoffed. "I was fifteen, maybe sixteen, and I knew _everything._ So I left. But I always found my way back to that chapel, and as the years passed, I began to see the truth of her words. We were supposed to be polar opposites--mage and priest--but we weren't. There was much about us that was the same."

"I guess priests have to give up a lot too," Elyssa realized. 

"The revered mother had lived in the Chantry all her life, as I had been in the tower all of mine. She taught me that you can find your family in the people around you, that you can love your work and find fulfillment in duty," she said. Elyssa paused and felt the truth of her words. She had lost her family when Rendon Howe attacked the castle, but she had found a new one with Duncan and the Grey Wardens, however brief it had been. And again, with Alistair and the others here in the camp. "And there is joy even in self-sacrifice; if you put others before yourself, then their well-being is yours and their happiness is your happiness."

"It won't be easy to live that way," the Warden sighed. With all she was carrying inside her head and heart, she was surprised she had emotion to spare for some things. 

"You can scream and cry and be angry about life as a Grey Warden, or you can accept it and allow yourself to see the good in it. This is your choice." The mage threw a bag over her shoulder and walked off, leaving Elyssa with something to think about. 

They set up camp not too far from the dock by the Circle Tower. It took a bit of persuading for Alistair to be okay with staying in camp while she went closer to the dock, but he eventually agreed. With Sten, Wynne, and Leliana at her side, she made her way down to the docks. They found a man who seemed to be scavenging what was left of some sort of battlefield. 

"Back off! I was here first!" he shouted at them when he saw them approaching. 

"What are you doing?" Elyssa asked him, crossing her arms.

"What's it to you?" the scavenger challenged. "I wasn't bothering nobody, and I was here first." 

"You haven't seen a sword lying around, have you?" she asked, changing tactics.

"Why? You looking to buy one?"

"Only if it's a qunari blade," she told him.

"A cue-what?" the stranger asked, looking confused. 

"People like my friend here," she told him pointing at Sten. 

"Ah… is he? Heh. Well… That's…" he stuttered. "See, I'd like to sell you one, but I don't… er… have any myself. I got part of a glove the wolves didn't chew too badly though! I think it was a glove anyway…" Was this guy serious? A glove? "I know. Don't say it. I got cheated." Wait, what? "I knew the guy who was here before me. He sold me this spot. Said he'd found giants and all kinds of crazy valuables. He didn't mention that he'd taken everything but the bones and the dirt already. His name's Faryn. Squirrelly little bastard, if you ask me. Which you didn't. But I said it anyway."

"Where is he now?" Elyssa asked. A lead, that was good.

"He was going to Orzammar, he said," the scavenger reported. "I imagine he's gotten there by now. If you find him, tell him I sent you! It'll scare the piss out of him. Heh." Elyssa rolled her eyes. Well, now they had a second reason to go to Orzammar. 

They ran into a merchant on the way, who gave Elyssa what he claimed was a control rod for a golem. According to the merchant, the golem in question was in a village to the south. She checked the map and decided to go to Orzammar in search of Sten's sword first, and then head south. Orzammar was closer. On the way, they ran into a few mages doing battle with a band of darkspawn, so they helped out. The older of the three said he was taking the apprentices to Redcliffe, to help in the war against the darkspawn. 

When they got to Orzammar, they were set upon by a group of bounty hunters claiming to be sent by Loghain. They were easy enough to defeat, though. Faryn wasn't hard to find. Just outside the gates was a gathering of dwarves trying to sell wares. Faryn was one of the few humans in the area. Faryn wasn't much help, though he did direct them back down to Redcliffe village, to the dwarf named Dwyn, who she had paid to assist the militia in defending the village from the horde of undead. It hadn't been very long ago, but it felt like it with all that had happened since. And now she had a reason to hunt down that detestable dwarf. When Sten told Dwyn that the sword was his, the dwarf readily handed it over without a fight. 

"Strange…" Sten said when she returned his sword to him. "I had almost forgotten it. Completion." He looked back at her. "Are you sure you are a Grey Warden? I think you must be an ashkaari to find a single lost blade in a country at war."

"You're welcome, Sten," Elyssa responded simply, amused. She didn't know what an ashkaari was, and she didn't really care either.

"I would thank you for this, if I knew how," he admitted slowly. That determined look returned to his face. "And I could deliver a much more satisfying answer to the arishok's question if the Blight were ended, don't you agree?"

"Absolutely," she responded. 

"Then lead the way." 

The two of them were standing watch late that night when he spoke to her again. 

"I have been mistaken," he said.

"What do you mean?" 

"You are a soldier worthy to stand among the Beresaad," he told her. "I did not think so when we first met."

"Why not?" she wondered.

"Questions like this certainly contributed to the impression," he said, the frustration in his voice actually laced with a bit of humor. All this did was make Elyssa laugh. Weird. She never would have thought she'd be laughing at something Sten said when she first released him from his cage back in Lothering. "The day will come when the arishok sends us here," he continued seriously, his change in tone making Elyssa somber too. "On that day, I will not look to find you on the battlefield."

"I hope I won't see you then, too," she said, echoing his subtle wish. She didn't want to fight any of her friends. 

"There is no point in dwelling on it. We should move on," he said quickly. Elyssa nodded.


	42. The Stone's Prisoner

"Hey, Morrigan, life in the Wilds must have been lonely," Elyssa said suddenly as they walked. She fell into step beside the apostate mage, curious. 

"At times, perhaps," Morrigan admitted. "A world full of people and buildings and things was all very foreign to me. If I wished companionship, I ran with the wolves and flew with the birds. If I spoke, 'twas to the trees."

"That sounds wonderful," Elyssa said wistfully. The only life she'd known was inside Highever Castle. She wasn't able to leave the castle without coming across the guards, let alone leaving the city. 

"For a time," she agreed. "But one can only remain a child for so long. I recall the first time I crept beyond the edge of the Wilds. I did so in animal form, remaining in the shadows and watching the townsfolk from afar. I happened upon a noblewoman by her carriage, adorned in sparkling garments the likes of which I had never before seen. I was dazzled. This, to me, seemed what true wealth and beauty must be." Elyssa was a bit surprised to see this side of the witch. Morrigan seemed nostalgic, which was different from what Elyssa was used to seeing. "I snuck up behind her and stole a hand mirror from the carriage. 'Twas encrusted in gold and crystalline gemstones and I hugged it to my chest with delight as I sped back to the Wilds."

"I don't imagine Flemeth was pleased," Elyssa guessed.

"She was not," Morrigan admitted. "Flemeth was furious with me. I was a child and had not yet come into my full power, and I had risked discovery for the sake of a pretty bauble. To teach me a lesson, Flemeth took the mirror and smashed it upon the ground. I was heartbroken."

"But you were just a child," Elyssa said, surprised.

"And a foolish one. Flemeth was right to break me of my fascination. Beauty and love are fleeting and have no meaning. Survival has meaning. Power has meaning," the apostate continued, keeping her eyes on the unstable ground. Elyssa looked away. She sounded like the Arls and the Banns. "Without those lessons I would not be here today, as difficult as they might have been."

"They made you stronger though. Didn't they?" 

"They did indeed," she agreed with a nod. "To return to your original question, perhaps my time in the Wilds was indeed lonely. But such was how it had to be. I find myself at times wondering what might have become of the girl with the beautiful golden mirror… but such fantasies have no place amidst reality." With that, Morrigan sped up enough for Elyssa to know that their conversation was over.

They came to the village of Honnleath, but something else had already struck the village. Darkspawn had already gotten here. This far south, nobody could say they were surprised. Once the darkspawn were cleared out, Elyssa took a closer look at the statue in the center of the village. There was an empty basket of birdseed near the statue. Leliana made a comment about the statue being an actual golem, but the activation phrase the merchant gave them did nothing. There was a single door they could get into, and it led them into some sort of basement. They cleared out more darkspawn, and then went even further down, into what looked like a brewer's cellar. Up a few steps further down the hall revealed even more darkspawn, and a group of people on the far side of the room behind a purple barrier of some sort.

"By the Maker! We're saved!" one of the villagers cried when the darkspawn were all dead.

"You… weren't sent by the bann, were you? To save us?" one of the men asked.

"No," Elyssa said with a shake of her head. "I am a Grey Warden."

"A Grey Warden? Here? Thank the Maker for our luck!" the man said joyfully. Confusion soon crossed his face. "But if you weren't sent by someone, why are you here? If you don't mind my asking," he added quickly.

"A merchant told me about this place, actually," she admitted.

"A merchant? Why would a merchant--oh, I think I see," the main said with a frustrated, almost angry-sounding sigh. "This is about Shale, isn't it? I should have known." He held out a hand, and the purple barrier faded, taking on little more than a sheen like what she was used to seeing on soap bubbles. So this man was a mage… The other villagers went through the barrier and out through either the ladder on one side of the room or through the stairs and halls that Elyssa and her group had come in from. "That damnable golem has brought us nothing but trouble. My mother sold the rod years ago, after it killed my father, and good riddance."

"Killed your father?" Elyssa echoed. "What do you mean?"

"My father's name was Wilhelm, mage to the arls of Redcliffe and a hero in the war against Orlais," the man explained. The mage Wilhelm… Elyssa vaguely recalled the name from her history lessons as a child. "And what did he get? One day my mother found him outside the tower, with so many broken bones she could barely recognize him, and Shale standing over him just like it is now. My father deserved better than that. But if you really want to wake Shale up… well, it's yours now."

"Except that the rod doesn't work. Nothing happens," she told him.

"My mother might have passed along the wrong command phrase when she sold the rod," he admitted. "She said she never wanted to see Shale active again." He sighed, frustrated. "Look, I'll tell you the command phrase… but I need your help first." Elyssa raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "I know you already saved my life, and I'm grateful, but my daughter is inside the laboratory! She was afraid, and ran too far in before I could stop her. I don't know how she made it past my father's defenses. One of the men tried to go after her, but he was killed. You could find her, couldn't you?"

"I'll see if I can find her," Elyssa said with a nod.

"You will? Thank the Maker!" he said happily. "My father's laboratory is just past the next area, I think. She has to be in there!" He pointed at a door that was on his side of where the barrier had been, and Elyssa nodded and led the others through it. Without her saying anything, the others fell into a line behind her. Leliana stood directly behind her, with Alistair at the end though he didn't care to be back there. They went through the first tunnel and came out into a smaller room, where they found the other man dead on the floor. And then an Ash Wraith and a few shades appeared at the far end.

"Well, we know what killed him," she muttered as she drew her blade. The shades were easily dispatched, and the next doorway led them through what looked like a cave covered in tree roots, into a final room where they found the girl. Talking to… a cat. Why was there a cat behind a barrier at the bottom of a basement in a village this remote?

"Oh, look, someone's come to play," the girl said when she saw them coming down the steps. "You **have** come to play, haven't you? We're playing a guessing game. It's better with more people."

"Good, you're safe," Elyssa said, deciding to stick to what made sense. "Your father was worried."

"Father? Oh, you can tell him I'm fine," she said. "Maybe he'll come and stay with us too." She got back down on her knees next to the cat. "Anyway, you should go if you're not going to play. Kitty finds you distracting."

"The cat… finds me distracting…?" she repeated, wary now.

"Kitty is clever," the girl responded. "She says you'll want to take me back to my father, but I'm not going. She would be lonely."

"You are so kind, Amalia," said a new voice. The cat's eyes started to glow pink. Morrigan hissed softly from behind Elyssa, off to her left. "I would miss you dearly if you left." 

"That's not really a cat, is it?" Elyssa asked. She knew she had to tread carefully here, or else she'd risk the girl getting possessed by whatever demon was inside the cat.

"Of course she's a cat!" the girl, Amalia, said. "She just talks, that's all."

"Talking is simple enough, once you know how," the demon-cat said.

"Right, what are you really?" she demanded, crossing her arms. She caught Morrigan's eye, giving the witch a look that said she knew exactly what the cat was. She was just playing dumb to stall to try to figure out how to get the girl out without becoming possessed. A glance at the cat showed that its eyes only glowed when it was speaking. 

"I am a cat. Really." Not convincing, given the glowing eyes. "Nothing you say will convince Amalia to go with you. She loves only me now. I am her friend, while you are just a stranger."

"A stranger who finds you very interesting," she admitted. She heard some whispering among her companions behind her, hoping it was Morrigan telling them to just go along with her plan. She couldn't risk saying it aloud and tipping off whatever demon was inside the cat. Ug, why hadn't she paid more attention during her magical theory lessons…? 

"Oh? Did you hear that Amalia? I have another admirer."

"That's because you're wonderful Kitty," the girl said matter-of-factly. 

"I have been bound to this chamber for decades, cut off from all contact. It has been maddening," the creature said, sounding frustrated. Enchanter Wilhelm must not have been strong enough to send the demon back to the Fade on his own. "Release me mortal, and let me have the girl. Let us return to her father and leave this place forever."

"Don't you think he'll notice something out of place?" Elyssa challenged. 

"Mortals often allow themselves to be blinded by hope," the demon-cat said. And, well… Elyssa couldn't say it was wrong. "They see what they wish to see. If the father hopes to see his Amalia alive and unharmed, perhaps he will."

"Alright," she said after a moment. "I'll free you, and you can have the girl." It was a lie, of course. But she had to figure out the puzzle first. Maybe she would come up with something while working on the puzzle. 

"Thank you," Kitty said. "You are very gracious. The mage's wards hold me within this chamber, and only a mortal may approach them."

"Oh, this is so exciting!" Amalia said happily. "Kitty is going to be free!" Elyssa motioned for the others to stay by the door while she approached the puzzle and began trying to figure it out. The fire started from one end, and there was an identical piece on the far corner… So the flames must be the key to getting the ward to deactivate. 

When she finally got the puzzle figured out, after much frustrated grumbling and a few minor burns( _Maker-damned fire puzzle…_ ), the ward on the doorway was broken and the barrier faded.

"Yes… I can feel the magic fading!" Kitty said, sounding relieved. "Oh, I had forgotten how it feels to not be caged!"

"Kitty? What's happening?" Amalia asked, starting to sound a bit scared. 

"A wonderful thing, my dear. For both of us," the demon-cat said vaguely. 

Elyssa smirked. "I said I'd free you. I didn't say I'd let you live," she told the demon. 

"Betrayal!" the cat hissed. "You will not take the girl! She is mine!" 

"Kitty! You're scaring me!" Amalia cried out, taking a few stumbling steps away from the cat. "I won't let you inside me! I won't!" She turned and ran back the way they'd come, which Elyssa saw as a good thing. Now the girl would be safe and they could take care of the demon. The cat turned into an almost human-looking demon. She remembered from the experience at the Circle that this was called a Desire Demon. She heard Alistair draw his sword and knew the other women would also be readying their weapons. The demon was pretty easy to defeat, but as they fought their way back through a few more shades, Elyssa found herself wondering how the girl had gotten through the shades and the Ash Wraith in the first room on her way down. Maybe that girl was just lucky. Or maybe the girl was a mage like her father.

"You did it! You freed her!" Amalia's father said when he saw them. "Thank you so much!"

"I'm sorry I ran away Daddy!" Amalia said to him. "I was so scared!" 

"It's alright butterfly," he said calmly. "You're safe now. All the bad creatures are gone." He reminded Elyssa of her own father, and she found her fingers messing with the pendant the spirit in his form had given her in the Gauntlet. "The phrase to activate Shale is _dulen harn_. If you still want that bloody thing. I wouldn't if I were you."

_But you're not me, and be glad for that,_ she said silently. 

"Now we should go, and quickly," he continued. She nodded. "Thank you again. We owe you our lives!" And with that, the pair of them rushed outside. They found a ladder that led back to the surface, and up they went. 

Elyssa went back over to the golem and said the activation phrase that Amalia's father had given them. This time, the golem cracked as it started moving, as if it had been sitting there for a while. It looked down at them and sighed.

"And not even a mage, this time," the golem muttered. "Probably stumbled across the rod by accident, I suppose. Typical."

"And how do you know I'm not a mage?" Elyssa asked, curious.

"It thinks these crystals are simply for show, I see," the golem snorted. "I stood here in this spot and watched the wretched little villagers scurry around me for, oh, I have no idea how long. Many, many years." 

_You didn't explain what the crystals were for…_ Elyssa noticed. 

"Oh, you poor dear!" Leliana spoke up. "That would be… really, really boring…"

"And the villagers had no idea they were being watched? Creepy…" Alistair muttered. 

"It's not like the golem could move without being activated," Elyssa reminded him, giving Alistair one of her looks. He just grinned at her.

"Then one wonders that you wouldn't be grateful to the one who allowed you to stretch your legs, golem," Morrigan said, drawing the golem's attention.

"Hmm… Another mage, I see. Charming." Well, if the golem could understand sarcasm, they'd get along just fine. "I was just beginning to get used to the quiet, too. Tell me, are all the villagers dead?"

"Not all of them, no," Elyssa informed it.

"Some got away, then? How unfortunate," the golem responded.

"You didn't care for them, I take it?" 

"Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say, and after thirty years as a captive audience, I was as familiar with these villagers as one could possibly be," it explained. "Not that I wished their fate on them, no, but it did make for a delightful change of pace."

"I'll bet," she said sarcastically. 

"Well, go on, then. Out with it. What is its command?" the golem demanded.

"Do you have a name?" she asked, even though Amalia's father had called it Shale numerous times. 

"Perhaps," it said vaguely. "I may have forgotten after all the yeaers of being called _golem. Golem, fetch me that chair. Do be a good golem and squash that insipid bandit._ And let's not forget _Golem, pick me up, I tire of walking_. It… does have the control rod, doesn't it? I am awake, so it… must…" 

"It certainly does, right in its hand," she said, holding up the control rod as proof. 

"I see the control rod, yet I feel…" Its voice trailed off unhelpfully. "Go on. Order me to do something."

"Okay. Walk over there," she said with a shrug, feeling a bit silly. 

"And… nothing? I feel nothing," the golem muttered. "I feel no compulsion to carry out its command. I suppose this means the rod is… broken?"

"Shouldn't you be happy about that?" Elyssa wondered.

"I suppose if I can't be commanded, this means… I have free will, yes?" it continued muttering, completely ignoring Elyssa. "It is simply… what should I do? I have no memories beyond watching this village for so long. I have no purpose… I find myself at a bit of a loss." The golem looked back at Elyssa. "What about it? It must have awoken me for some reason, no? What did it intend to do with me?"

"I can think of many uses for a personal golem," she said.

"May I ask what sorts of things it gets up to for which I could be so potentially useful?"

"Killing darkspawn, primarily," she told it.

"The darkspawn are an evil that must be destroyed, it's true. Though not as evil as the birds… damnable feathered fiends!" Well, Elyssa reasoned, if she had been a statue for thirty years she probably wouldn't like birds either. "I suppose I have two options, do I not? Go with it or… go elsewhere? I… do not even know what lies beyond this village."

"Are you going to keep calling me _it_?" Elyssa asked.

"Yes. Very likely," the golem said unhelpfully. 

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"I watched this village for so long, unable to move or act. My memories of anything before are… vague at best," it responded. "So I have no idea what I want to do. I am glad to be mobile, is that not enough?"

"You're welcome to come with us, then," she offered. 

"Are… you certain you want to bring that thing with us?" Alistair asked hesitantly. "It could be dangerous. And large." Elyssa raised an eyebrow at him.

"Think of it as a portable battering ram," she told him. Silently, she added, _Why did you think we came here in the first place?_

"Good point," he admitted. "Better it than me, anyhow."

"I will follow it about, then… for now. I am called Shale, by the way."

"I am Elyssa. Pleased to meet you."

"This should be interesting." Shale joined them on their way back to camp, but as they were leaving the village Elyssa heard something squawk. She turned back to Shale, who shrugged. There were feathers on the ground and a small pool of blood. She gave Shale the look she often gave the others, and continued walking.


	43. Welcome to Orzammar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was born on the surface. Bartrand saw Orzammar, but he's not really in any state to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long guys! I ended up dropping out of college to figure out what I want to do with my life, and finally got my room rearranged how I want it. So, here's the next chapter!

They were camped on the far side of Lake Calenhad that night, with Redcliffe castle on one side and the Circle Tower on the other, and Elyssa found herself standing at the shore. Alistair came up to her after a while, and they stood there in comfortable silence while Elyssa skipped stones across the surface of the water.

"You know, I've always wondered what it would be like to be just like everyone else," Alistair muttered suddenly.

"You wanted to be petty and dishonest?" Elyssa asked dryly, sending another stone skipping across the pond. They were a short ways away from the camp, still close enough to be able to yell for help if something happened but not close enough for the others to overhear. 

"Everyone's not like that," he objected softly.

"Yes they are…" she said with a sigh, wrapping her arms around herself. Alistair realized then the full extent of her pain. Despite the events at the Temple, in the Gauntlet, she still hadn't healed completely. Not that he could be too surprised.

"You're not like that," he told her instead, placing a hand on her shoulder. She sighed and leaned into his chest. 

"I grew up as one of the highest of Ferelden's noble children," she confessed. "The dog lords are all out for themselves… My family was betrayed by my father's best friend. Rendon Howe and my father fought together at the end of the Orlesian Occupation and he still turned against us. Duncan said that if he saved me he'd have to make me a Warden." She paused and sighed, looking out over the water. "Arl Eamon wants to make you king at the Landsmeet. You'll need to remember that all the nobles are just out for themselves." She smiled softly. "Well, okay, not all of them. Arl Eamon and Bann Teagan are okay." She looked up at him. "And there's a few in the Highever Teyrnir that aren't bad." He smiled down at her and pressed his lips gently to hers. She found herself wondering what was going to happen to their relationship after the Landsmeet. If Alistair was going to be king, people would expect an heir. Could Grey Wardens even have children after the Joining? Just another question that she hadn't been able to ask.

Their next stop was Orzammar.

Shale made a comment about the crystals on the way, wondering if they made it look wider. Elyssa assured the golem that the crystals were slimming, and even offered to rearrange them in a more flattering pattern.

She approached the gate with Leliana, Wynne, and Alistair at her side, only to find the dwarven gatekeeper arguing with someone. 

"You insult all of Ferelden with your actions!" the human man said. "King Lognahin will not suffer the delay of his appointed messenger!" At that, Elyssa glanced over at Alistair. _King_ Loghain? Well… Good thing they were planning on having a Landsmeet called. 

"Veata! This land is held in trust for the sovereign dwarven kings. I cannot allow entry at this time," the dwarf said. 

"King Loghain demands the allegiance of the deshyr or lords or whatever you call them in your Assembly! I am his appointed messenger," the human responded. 

"I don't care if you're the king's wiper" the guard responded. "Orzammar will have none but its own until our throne is settled."

"Why have your people retreated like this?" Elyssa asked.

"They hide because they are dwarves," Loghain's messenger said, sounding irritated. 

"I would challenge any race to fare as well. Our king is dead," the dwarf told her. "Endrin Aeducan returned to the Stone not three weeks ago. The Assembly has gone through a dozen votes without agreeing on a successor. If it is not settled soon, we risk a civil war." 

_Sounds a lot like what's going on with Ferelden right now, except we have that bastard Loghain,_ Elyssa told herself. Out loud, she said, "The Grey Wardens need their traditional dwarven allies," and handed the guard the scroll. 

"The Wardens killed King Cailan and nearly doomed Ferelden!" the human barked. Seriously, how could they have killed the king from the top of a tower filled with darkspawn? "They're sworn enemies of King Loghain!"

"Well, that is the royal seal," the guard admitted, handing the scroll back to Elyssa. "That means only the Assembly is authorized to address it. Grey Warden, you may pass."

"You're letting in a traitor? And a foreigner?" the human objected. Long winded, this one. "In the name of King Loghain, I demand that you execute this… stain on the honor of Ferelden." 

_Alright, that's it. Let's shut this annoyance up._ "Loghain is the traitor who killed King Cailan at Ostagar!" she corrected the man, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"What? L-lies and slander! King Loghain will not suffer this! I will not suffer it. I'm his messenger!" Elyssa had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Someone who had to keep repeating it so often must not be entirely sure of his position.

"Kill each other as you will, but take your sodding fight off my doorstep!" the dwarven guard protested. The fight didn't last long, the messenger and his bodyguards were soon dead. 

"You've done me a service," the guard said when she approached him again. "That fool Imrek was barking for a week. Are all humans so touched?" She shrugged. "You are free to enter Orzammar, Grey Warden, though I don't know what help you will find." The other two dwarves opened the gate, and they went inside. 

The first thing Elyssa noticed was the statues. They were easily taller than she was, made of solid stone. Well, everything seemed to be made of solid stone. It was the inside of a mountain after all. 

"Those statues are the dwarven Paragons, if I remember right," Alistair offered. "The best of their ancestors." That was good to know. 

As they were walking up the stairs on the other side of the hall, Elyssa heard Alistair talking again. But this time, not to her. 

"Leliana, you're female, right?" he asked.

"I am?" Leliana answered, exaggerating her words. "That's news. When did that happen?"

"I want your advice," he said. "What do I do if… If I think a woman is special and…?"

"You want to woo her?" Leliana finished. "Here's a good tip. You shouldn't question her about her female-ness." Elyssa snickered.

"Alright, yes, good point," Alistair conceded.

"Why do you ask? Are you worried that things will not proceed naturally?"

"Why would they?" he countered. "Especially when I do things like ask women if they're female."

"It adds to your charm Alistair," the bard assured him. "You're a little awkward. It is endearing."

"So I should be awkward? Didn't you just tell me to not do that?"

"Just be yourself. You know how to do that, don't you?"

"Alright, forget I asked." As their conversation finished up, Elyssa pushed open the doors into Orzammar proper. As they walked in, there was something going on between two groups of dwarves.

"It is the Assembly who makes a king, and a king who nominates his successor," said the one with grey hair. "None of it is carried in the blood."

"Or as now, when someone tries using the Assembly to pull a coup," said the blond one. Elyssa guessed that one was younger. "Who's to say what my father said in his final hours, when the usurper Harrowmont was the only one by his side?"

"I'll have you thrown in prison!" the older dwarf threatened. Was this Harrowmont?

"You've bitten off more than you can chew!" countered the other. 

"Handlers! Separate these deshyrs in the Diamond Quarter!" another dwarf in full armor interrupted. "I will not have Bhelen incite a riot!"

"Do not speak that way about the man who should be king!" one of the dwarves in the blond one's party threatened, hefting his axe and attacking the other armored dwarf, killing him. The old man's group scattered, and Bhelen's group walked off. 

"I will not have fighting in the commons! Especially in front of outsiders!" yelled another armored dwarf. "If I find that fool, I'll have him in the Legion." Elyssa walked up to him. "Veata surfacer!" he said when he noticed her. "I am bid to let you walk the commons, but keep your place. Warden or not, I want order."

"Can a city function like this?" she asked, glancing down at the dead dwarf.

"See, that's why I don't want you surfacers seeing us at our worst. You'll think that's all we are," he complained. "The market is thin but busy, and the tavern never closes. Bad blood is usually kept to the Proving. Should toss Bhelen and Harrowmont in there, sort this all out in a hurry." 

"The Proving?" Elyssa asked.

"Personal battles for honor and ancestor," the dwarf explained shortly. "I don't expect a surfacer to understand. If you must be our Warden, at least know us. Go to the Shaper of Memories in the Shaperate. The true bright spot in the Diamond Quarter."

"Sounds like Bhelen and Harrowmont are the ones I need to talk to," Elyssa mused aloud.

"They've caged themselves for fear of each other," the dwarf said, a little less hostile. "As you can see, keeping order down among us working people is dodgy. No place for a proper lord." His voice was laced with sarcasm. "Bhelen speaks through his second, Vartag Gavorn, in the Assembly. Lord Harrowmont speaks through Dulin Forender from his estate."

"Thank you," she said politely. "I should get going."

"Yes, you should," the dwarf agreed. They went to the left first, stopping in an armor shop before checking out the tavern. That was where the best gossip was, after all. One of the serving girls gave Elyssa a quick rundown of Orzammar's layout. Apparently the Diamond Quarter, where the nobles lived, was actually above the commons. And lower was where the casteless lived. She gathered that the casteless were the equivalent of the beggars and homeless around Ferelden. They just used different words for the same thing. A man named Lord Helmi explained the caste system more clearly to her, and a nervous man basically threw some papers at her before running off. 

"Just like taverns in Thedas," Elyssa muttered as they left. The Assembly was upstairs, so that was where they were headed next. Outside, there was a woman named Filda who was praying for her son, who had disappeared in the Deep Roads five years ago. Elyssa offered to search for him, and after a supportive word from Wynne, they continued on their way through the commons. There was a dwarf asking about nugs, and Elyssa agreed to bring any she found to him. 

There was a dwarf girl who called them over near the stairs. "You look like you're not from around here," she said.

"Yeah, you could say that," Elyssa agreed.

"Oh wonderful! I've been trying forever to find someone who really knows the surface world," she said happily. "I don't suppose you've heard of something called _The Circle_?"

"My companion here is a senior enchanter of the Circle," Elyssa said, motioning to Wynne. 

"Oh, my lady, it's an honor!" the dwarf said quickly. "I've never met an actual mage. Is it true you can manipulate nature's forces with you mind? Like you were born with Lyrium in your veins?"

"Don't let the glamour fool you, child," Wynne said gently. "Wielding magic is a dangerous occupation, and a great responsibility."

"Why is a dwarf interested in the Circle?" Elyssa wondered. She remembered from Brother Aldous's lessons that dwarves couldn't use magic.

"I've been trying to reach someone for years!" the girl said. "I've sent missives with every caravan, but I never get a reply. I want to know if they would accept me for study."

"Why wouldn't they?" Elyssa asked. Surely First Enchanter Irving would accept a dwarf to study. He seemed like he would take all kinds.

"No dwarf has ever studied at the Circle of Magi! I guess you never read First Enchanter Caethelun's _Treatise Concerning Dwarves and the Non-Heritability of Magic_. He tested dwarves from twenty bloodlines, and found they couldn't perform any level of spell casting, regardless of lyrium exposure or time on the surface. The Circle speculates that lyrium in the Stone shields us from spiritual influences and over time made us immune to them."

"So what do you want with the Circle?" 

"I want to go to the Circle to study," the dwarf said again. "I don't want to do magic. No dwarf can cast spells, but I don't see why I shouldn't study it. It would be a valuable exchange. Orzammar would learn of one of the great natural forces on the surface, and the Circle gains direct access to our knowledge of lyrium smithing." She'd certainly thought this through.

"I can bring the Circle your request," Elyssa told her.

"That would be wonderful!" the dwarf said excitedly. "My name is Dagna, daughter of Janar of the Smith Caste. Tell them I've already begun reading the Tevinter Imperium's _Tortukum Kadab,_ and it's just fascinating! Did you know the Imperial Magister lords once had genealogies of every human family known to produce a mage child! Oh, I'll go pack my bags right now! I'll be waiting by my father's shop!" And with that, she was off. After looking at one last shop, at which Elyssa found a mirror that fit a story she remembered Morrigan telling her a good while ago, they headed up to the Diamond Quarter.


	44. Playing with Politics

As they made their way through the Diamond Quarter, a pair of criers spouted news about both dwarves who were after the throne. Alistair said something about the way the city was built, and Wynne mentioned something about the palace. Zevran stayed quiet. 

Their first stop was the Assembly Chamber, to see just how things were moving along. They were met in what was best described as some sort of lobby area and told they could watch as long as they were quiet, and then went inside.

"Half our houses would go broke without a surface trade!" one dwarf said.

"The proposal is only effective until we have a king to ensure we are respected by the surfacers!" protested another.

"Leaving you conveniently positioned to take over all contracts," observed a third. "I'll see your head on a pike first!"

"Deshyrs, lords and ladies of the Assembly: I've already doubled the guard to prevent violence. Must I summon more?" asked the steward.

"Steward Bandelor, Bhelen's sympathizers are tying out hands with trivialities!" the third dwarf protested. "They may as well pen us to the sky."

"I suggest we put the matter to a vote," one of the women spoke up.

"And I suggest you have a taste of my family's mace--" the second dwarf began.

"Enough!" the steward interrupted. "The Assembly is in recess until the members can regain control of their emotion!" As he turned toward the door, Elyssa and the others filed out of the way of the dwarven nobility. 

"Stone-forsaken fools and dusters…" the steward muttered as he closed the doors behind everyone. He turned to look at Elyssa and her group. "I'm sorry. This is the Assembly of the Clans. Only Deshyrs and occasional guests of state are allowed in." 

"You don't recognize a Grey Warden?" Elyssa asked, her tone surprised rather than accusing.

The steward sighed. "Forgive me. I am so exhausted, I completely forgot about the message from the gate guard. Welcome to Orzammar, Warden. I hope you can forgive our unrest. The loss of our king has hit us hard."

"The surface has lost its king as well, the chaos is expected," she said with a small nod. 

"Respect for your role is great, but you won't receive a proper hearing until we have a king on the throne," he told them.

"Who has the authority to aid me?" she asked.

"Dulin Forender, Harrowmont's man, can be found at the Harrowmont Estate, not far from here. Vartag Gavorn, Prince Bhelen's second, is often here in the Assembly." 

"Thank you."

"I only wish there was more I could do for you." She nodded again and glanced around, spotting a dwarf standing alone in one of the alcoves. 

"Warden, welcome," he said on her approach. "It is always a blessing for Orzammar to host your order. I am Vartag Gavorn, top advisor to our good Prince Bhelen. What news do you bring?"

"You know who I am?" she asked, surprised. One dwarf hadn't realized who she was until she brought it up herself, and now this one recognized her right off? 

"It would be hard not to notice the Grey Warden and her… eclectic entourage," he explained. 

_Eclectic. That's a good word for our little group,_ she realized, biting her tongue to keep the smile that pulled at the corners of her lips.

"I have heard you seek the aid of Orzammar's finest," Vartag continued. 

"This treaty obliges Orzammar to send troops to the surface," Elyssa said, pulling the scroll with dwarven names out and handing it to Vartag.

"Ah, ancient documents, indeed," he muttered, his eyes scanning the parchment. "These were signed in the reign of Eithnar Bemot, Paragon and king. That was sixteen generations ago." He rolled the scroll up again and handed it back to Elyssa, who slipped it back into the pouch with the others. "Now, the difficulty is that the treaty only compels our **King** , and we are sadly lacking one of those right now."

"Is there some way I could help?" 

"My prince is the rightful king, but a disappointing number of lords back the upstart, Harrowmint, for the throne." This was sounding oddly like her personal experience. By now, Howe had already appointed himself Highever's new teyrn. "If you show your support for Prince Bhelen, he might be able to assist with your request."

"What do I need to do?"

"Harrowmont promised the same portion of his estate to two different deshyrs, Lady Dace and Lord Helmi." 

"Deshyrs?" Alistair asked.

"Oh, excuse me, two Assembly members," Vartag amended. "Deshyr is their formal title. Harrowmont can't possibly grant it to both of them, but they won't find out until after the vote is cast. I have copies of the promissory notes Harrowmont gave each of them. Once they see those, they should both reconsider their votes."

"I'll find Lady Dace and Lord Helmi," Elyssa said with a sigh. Politics were the same no matter where you were, it seemed…

"Lady Dace doesn't leave the quarter much," he continued. "But Lord Helmi's adventurous. Likes to spend his time at Tapsters… in the Commons. Remember, don't tell them you got these papers from me. You learned of them and drew your own conclusions." Elyssa nodded and walked outside, only to be approached by another dwarf. 

"I heard there was a Grey Warden here," the new dwarf said. "I am Dulin Forender, second to Lord Harrowmont, King Endrin's own choice as successor. Word is spreading that the surface may suffer a Blight. It is shameful we are not in a better position to help." He seemed genuinely sorry, as opposed to nobles who apologized without meaning it. But she remembered Vartag Gavorn's words, and her gaze hardened.

"I have nothing to say to the usurper," she said coldly. This did not go unnoticed to her companions, but none of them mentioned anything. 

"The king may recommend any successor he chooses," Forender said quickly. "Lord Harrowmont was chosen after Bhelen was implicated in his own brother's death. Better a trusted advisor lead us than a scheming child. Bhelen's claim to the throne is based on nothing but his own pride." There were too many similarities in this situation and others Elyssa had recently dealt with. It unsettled her.

"I have nothing more to say to you," she said before making her way past him.

"No, I wouldn't imagine you do…" he said, sounding disappointed. 

They found Lady Dace easily enough, simply standing outside her front door. Talking with her revealed that her father was the one who had made the deal, and was the only one who could revoke it. Lady Dace gave them a pass to get into the Deep Roads, and a map to find her father's expedition. 

"It'll be two years tomorrow! By the sodding ancestors, how can you people just ignore that?" 

"Branka didn't go alone, Oghren," the guard said wearily. It sounded to Elyssa like he'd had this argument before. "She took the entire house. Everyone but you. Just get over to Tapsters and drown yourself already. You know that's how this always ends." The argument continued a bit longer before the guard mentioned something about exile and chased the other dwarf, Oghren, off. She talked to the guard for a bit after Oghren left. Branka had been the drunk's wife, and a Paragon, who had taken the entire house into the Deep Roads except her husband, and two years later he still wanted to search for her.

She went down to the Commons to find the second person, Lord Helmi, and show him the papers. She stepped in when she saw some thugs badgering a shopkeeper, scaring them out of the shop. The owner told her about Jarvia, who seemed to run some sort of gang in Dust Town, the city slums. She didn't know what good the information was yet, but figured it must be worth something.

As it turned out, Lord Helmi was one of the dwarves she'd spoken to their first time in the tavern. He wasn't surprised by the fact, and just admitted to being tired of it all before he left to go tell his mother. Now that this was done, it was time to go down to the Deep Roads to find Lord Dace. After a quick conversation with the dwarves on the front line, they were allowed to go down and begin their search.

Elyssa expected to be afraid of the Deep Roads. It felt a lot like the battle of Ostagar. Alistair didn't seem to have anything to say about it, and after a time they found the party of dwarves they were looking for. Lord Dace took the news much less gracefully than Lord Helmi had, but their vote was secured. The two groups traveled back to Orzammar together, parting at Lord Dace's estate in the Diamond Quarter. 

Vartag Gavorn made a joke about Lady Helmi calling Harrowmont a liar, and then they were taken to meet Prince Bhelen. They exchanged pleasantries, him voicing surprise at them taking part in Orzammar's politics, and her finding ways to help him so they could get the troops they needed. Then he mentioned a name, the same name the shopkeeper from before had said. Jarvia. They were going hunting. After a quick stop to change her companions around. This time, she left with Leliana, Morrigan, and her hound. Alistair wasn't happy about being left behind, but he agreed to it after Elyssa reminded him that she could take care of herself. And she promised to tell him everything that happened later. Then they made their way to what the dwarves called Dust Town, the city slums where the thieves and beggars made their lot.

Elyssa very much disliked Dust Town. It was, at its core, just like any other slum in any other city, except this one just happened to be underground. It actually reminded her too much of the Highever Alienage. She'd only seen it once, but the memory had never left her. The main difference between the alienage and Dust Town was actually quite simple. The alienage had been a way for the humans of Highever to separate themselves from the elves. Dust Town was just as full of dwarves as the Commons had been. Only dwarves. 

She stopped at the one store within Dust Town and asked the shop keeper if he knew anything. He told her about secret doors around Orzammar, after a bit of coin loosened his tongue. Seemed Jarvia had secret doors all over the city. Good to know, but not too terribly helpful. There was a woman named Nadezda who gave her some more information. Jarvia hadn't even been running things for a whole year. She also said something about finger-bone tokens being keys for the hidden doors mentioned by the shopkeeper. There was a woman who was trying to get money for her son, and after a bit of conversing the young mother decided to leave for the surface with her son. 

One of the other doors was unlocked, and Elyssa opened it to find some of Jarvia's men on the other side. The leader finally surrendered when the rest of his men were dead. He told her where the door was and gave her the token to get through, so she let him leave with a warning that he wouldn't want to be in Jarvia's tunnels when she got there. Elyse went to the door he mentioned and put the token in the slot. The door opened.

"At this point, I was half expecting it to stay closed," she admitted as they went through, the heavy door thudding shut behind them. They found a room full of boxes and crates, where one dwarf asked for a password. "Oops," she muttered, drawing her sword again. They fought their way through the tunnels, freeing a dark-skinned dwarf man that Jarvia'd been holding prisoner. 

The last door opened and Jarvia stood in the center of the room, with a number of other dwarves around her.

"So, Bhelen finally realized his throne means nothing if he can't hold it, yet he still doesn't bother to send his own men," Jarvia said sarcastically. "Well, you picked the wrong side, stranger. It doesn't matter who's king, as long as there's a queen!" Her words echoed in Elyssa's head, seeming oddly similar to the situation Alistair was going to be in soon. She was, for once, glad she'd talked him into staying at camp.

"You're awful cocky for someone whose entire carta is dead," Elyssa said, raising an eyebrow and putting one hand on her hip.

"You'll pay for their deaths a hundred times over," Jarvia promised. "Kill them! But keep the pretty one alive. I have plans for her." Elyssa briefly wondered which one she was talking about, since three of her party were women and the fourth was her mabari. She drew her sword and got ready to fight. She noticed a distinct lack of non-dwarven mercenaries in the room. They'd been fighting elven mages and qunari mercenaries along with the dwarves all through the tunnels, so she had half expected to find more here. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case. Mages just made the fight take that much longer, when she was fighting against them. When they were dead, she took the key from Jarvia and made her way out the door on the far left, and back up to the city.

"Gah!" she heard when the hidden door swung open. "By all the beards of my ancestors! How did you… Where did you come from?" The dwarf glanced back at the hole in the wall, and Elyssa had a moment of understanding. This dwarf looked somewhat like Dagna, the girl she had met on her way to the Diamond Quarter. Similar enough to be related. "Y-you made a hole in my wall!"

"That hole leads to a tunnel in the carta's hideout," she helpfully informed him.

"It… it does?" he asked, his voice cracking in what Elyssa assumed to be a combination of surprise and panic. Nobody would want to be accidentally associated with the Carta. "Oh, sod it. If people find out about this, my business will be ruined! They'll think I have something to do with Jarvia!"

"You didn't know about this?" she asked, somewhat skeptical. If he had known, he was a better actor than most of the human nobility. But not many people were better actors than nobles, so she figured he might be telling the truth.

"No!" he insisted. "I don't have anything to do with them! They're criminals!" Someone else just as eloquent as Alistair under stress, it seemed…"When they built this part of the city, they must have built over some tunnels. I swear, I had no idea." He glanced back at the tunnel, then covered his eyes with a hand. "Ah, just leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with this. And if anyone comes asking, I'm gonna tell them you did it!" Elyssa shrugged. It didn't bother her. It was the truth, after all. She sold some of the things they'd found in the tunnels and then left the shop. Sure enough, there was Dagna standing outside. With that, it was up to the Diamond Quarter again.

It was on the way up that Elyssa remembered that Wardens weren't supposed to intervene in politics. But right now, their other option was to let the world fall to the Blight, so playing with politics was the lesser of the two evils. A crier outside the palace caught Elyssa's attention with his line about darkspawn running in fear because she had decided to assist Bhelen. The palace doors closed behind her, shutting out most of the noise from beyond.

"Well, you've simply outdone yourself," Bhelen said when she entered his room. "They're talking all over the city about how someone finally went through Dust Town and slaughtered the carta like genlocks."

"I did what you asked," she reminded him. "Do you have my troops?"

"Not yet," he admitted. "Killing Jarvia brought me greater favor, but to truly displace Harrowmont, we'll need something dramatic enough to end the debate forever. What do you know of the Paragon Branka?"

"She disappeared in the Deep Roads," Elyssa remembered from her conversation with the guard. She had an idea about where this was going.

"She is the only paragon in four generations, and she turned her back on her responsibilities," Bhelen explained, sounding more than a little irritated. "A paragon is like an ancestor born in this time. If she returned, her vote would outweigh the entire Assembly. Anyone with her support could take the throne unchallenged."

Elyssa sighed. "If it will get me my troops, I will find Branka," she agreed. 

"I was hoping you'd say that," the prince said. "So far, my men have traced Branka to Caridin's Cross; an ancient crossroad lost to the darkspawn four centuries ago. Her trail ends there. Perhaps with your Warden's expertise, you can find what my men could not."

Elyssa didn't bother saying that she'd barely been a Warden for a few months. Or that going to search for Lord Dace had been her first time in the Deep Roads. There was no reason to mention that to him. 

"Where is Caridin's Cross?" she asked instead.

"You must enter the Deep Roads through the mines," Bhelen told her. She'd already known this, but she realized he might not know that she'd had to go into the Deep Roads to search for Lord Dace. "To protect the city, that's the only path we leave open. Caridin's Cross lies many miles deep into the tunnels. It was once a main thoroughfare, but before Branka, no one had stepped foot there in generations."

"I'll head out as soon as we're prepared," she promised. She guessed it would take more than a few days to get deep enough to find Branka. 

"You have my thanks," Bhelen said. "Seek her in Caridin's Cross. I will try to delay the vote until you return." She nodded and turned her back to him, walking through the halls back out of the palace.

Just before the entrance to the Deep Roads, Elyssa was stopped by Oghren, the one she'd seen arguing with the guard in the Diamond Quarter, and later in Tapsters. 

"So, you were serious before when you said you wanted to help Branka, huh?" he asked, though Elyse figured the answer was obvious. "I'm Oghren. I don't know if you remember. People seem to forget me these days. Or ignore. I forget which. 

_I can't imagine why people would ignore a drunk, disgraced warrior…_ Elyssa found herself thinking. Instead she said, "How did you know I'm here about Branka?"

"Not everyone hates me, you know," he told her, an edge of frustration in his voice. "There's enough people who know I'm interested, they make sure I hear if anyone's looking for her. They say Bhelen's given up on his scouts and is sending you. But they haven't found Branka herself, and that means whatever they've got, it's not enough if you don't know what she was looking for. If we pool our knowledge, we stand a chance of finding Branka. Otherwise, good sodding luck."

"Sounds like we have a deal," she gave in. She didn't think he'd take any other answer.

"You should know that Branka was looking for the Anvil of the Void, the secret to building golems, which was lost centuries ago," Oghren informed her. Elyssa took a moment to think, and then realized that it might be worthwhile to bring Shale along. "The smith Caridin built it, and with it, Orammar had a hundred years of peace, while it was protected by the golems forged on the Anvil. As far as anyone knows, the Anvil was built in the old Ortan Thaig. Branka planned to start looking there, if she could even find it. All she knew was that it was past Caridin's Cross. No one's seen that thaig for five hundred years."

"Bhelen gave me a map," she told him. "I can get to Caridin's Cross."

"If we're going, let's get moving," he said impatiently. "Branka's not going to sodding find herself." She agreed, and sent Morrigan back to camp with Kenai to get Shale. She knew Alistair wouldn't be happy about getting left behind, again, but she couldn't go into the Deep Roads with only a bunch of warriors behind her. Leliana could pick almost any lock, so she was staying. When Shale joined them, the four set off.


	45. Ghouls, Archdemons, and Broodmothers. Oh my!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybody's heard the Chantry tale about Tevinter Magisters breaking into the Black City and getting turned into darkspawn, but nobody's ever discovered how darkspawn are born, so to speak. Well, until the Hero of Ferelden discovered the Broodmothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know it's been forever and a half, but for some reason there's only so much of this that I can do at one time before I need a break. Thanks for being so patient. :)

"Caridin's Cross…" Oghren said when they finally reached it. "I can't believe Bhelen tracked this place down. This used to be one of the biggest crossroads in the old empire," he continued. Elyssa was a bit surprised he knew that. "You could get anywhere from here. Including Ortan Thaig."

"So, you know where to go from here?" she asked, in an attempt to get him to hurry up with whatever he was going to say.

"Aye. Branka dug up some maps of the ancient empire," he told her. "It's a little tough to tell with so much of it collapsed now, but near as I can figure, we're on the right path to Ortan Thaig."

"Great," Elyssa said. "Let's go."

"I've been waiting for someone to say that for two sodding years," the dwarf reminded them, not for the first time. There were some mercenaries at the Cross to intercept them, but they were easily killed. Elyssa followed Oghren through the tunnels, since he seemed to detect some sort of sign that she couldn't see.

Elyssa knew it was foolish to not bring a mage with her, but she also knew that of her companions, there were few who would be fit for an extended expedition into the Deep Roads. Herself and Alistair were the first ones, of course, but one of them had to stay behind in case something went wrong, though Alistair did not enjoy being left behind. Shale, being a golem, was probably even better suited than Elyssa and Alistair were, since Shale didn't need to sleep or eat and probably would be unable to fall victim to the Blight. Oghren seemed like he was going to come along whether Elyssa wanted him or not. Leliana seemed to be better at lockpicking than Zevran did, so she made four. 

Soon enough, they made it to Ortan Thaig.

"By the tits of my ancestors, Ortan Thaig. I never thought I'd see this place in the flesh," Oghren said when they came out of the Cross. "I can see Branka all over this place," he added, glancing around. "She always took chips from the walls at regular intervals when she was in a new tunnel -- check their composition. If she was still here though, she'd have sentries out by now."

"What can you tell me about these ruins?" Elyssa asked him. 

"This was Caridin's home thaig. He was an Ortan before he got raised to Paragon," the dwarf explained. "Even stayed here when he could have had his own house. I guess he didn't want to move his people to Bownammar."

"What's Bownammar?" Everything she asked the dwarf seemed to lead to more questions.

"The city of the dead. Caridin built it to honor the Legion of the Dead, but it was more like a sodding mausoleum than anything," he continued. "Of course, that was all before he built the Anvil. After that, he was the city's pet genius until he angered the king and fell into disfavor." City? 

"There was a city here?" Was a thaig the same as a city?

"No, no," he said quickly, sounding slightly frustrated. "There was a thaig here, the Ortan Thaig. Bownammar is north and west of here, but that's not important. Or at least, I hope it isn't. The City of the Dead is known as the Dead Trenches since the darkspawn conquered it. Much of the Legion was destroyed when the fortress fell."

"And you have no idea where this Anvil is?" she asked him.

"No one does. At the time, Ortan Thaig was almost part of the main city," he began again. "No one bothered to mark where the Anvil was stored. Now it's impossible to know if it's been moved or even destroyed. But trust me. If we find it, we find Branka."

"Let's get going, then," Elyssa responded, beginning the trudge through the Thaig. 

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Oghren agreed, following her. Leliana and Shale wordlessly joined them. But before they could truly enter the thaig, they encountered yet another cave-in, as well as a pair of giant spiders dead next to an equally dead ogre. There were more spiders in the offshoot tunnel.

"Ugh, freaking giant spiders," Elyssa muttered, trying to pull bits of webbing off her armor and out of her hair before it stuck. If the webbing set, she'd have to cut it out. They were ambushed by another batch of spiders, and Elyssa was forced to spit some of the webbing out of her mouth. "What is with all these spiders anyway?" she wondered aloud. Around the next bend in the tunnel, they spotted a bunch of spiders attacking an ogre. Elyssa held everyone back until the fight was decided, save when one of the spiders aimed itself at them, and once the ogre was dead she allowed the other to engage the remaining spiders. Not far down the cavern, there was another dead ogre in the middle of a second battle between the darkspawn and the spiders. 

They finally came through the end of the tunnel, and saw what could only have been buildings. She felt something hit her shoulder, feeling kind of like an arrow against her armor though it made no sound, and she spotted a dwarf-sized white thing. Many of them attacked, accompanied by a full-sized golem, and the white dwarves disappeared upon defeat. 

A little further in the thaig, someone yelled and ran when they saw Elyssa and her party. She came closer.

"There's nothing for you here!" he yelled at her. "It's mine! I've claimed it!" 

"Who are you?" she called back. "What are you doing down here?"

"You've come to take my claim!" the strange dwarf continued. Even at this distance, Elyssa could tell the man was too small to be a human or elf. "You surfacers are all alike: thieving scoundrels! Well, I found it first!"

"Bah! He's a bloody scavenger, good as sodding gone," Oghren scoffed. 

"Begone you! You'll bring the dark ones back, you will! They'll crunch your bones!" the unknown dwarf started yelling again. 

"Word has it you can only survive down here by eating the darkspawn dead," Oghren explained. Elyssa blanched, an expression that Leliana, at least, noticed with surprise.

"Darkspawn blood is poison," Elyssa said, turning to look back at the other dwarf. "Men have died from drinking it." She thought back to her Joining, how Duncan had felt forced to kill Jory, and how Daveth had died after drinking the blood. Then she thought about the words the dwarf had said before. That she'd bring the dark ones back. Maybe he could sense the darkspawn now too, and by extension, sense her. Or, more accurately, the corruption within her. 

"It burns when it goes down. It burns!" the unknown dwarf yelled. "It's my claim, not yours! Crunch your bones!" He turned and ran deeper into the tunnel, and Elyssa and her crew were ambushed, yet again, by a group of giant spiders.

"Getting real tired of these spiders!" she yelled out, drawing her blade. With the spiders dead, the group followed her into the tunnel. At the end was what seemed to be the remains of a campsite. 

"Go away! This is mine! Only I gets to plunder its riches!" the dwarf told her when she approached. She noticed the way he held himself; one arm always kept close to his chest, walking almost sideways. He seemed to be perpetually curled in on himself.

"Is this Branka's campsite?" she asked.

"It's mine! I'm the one who found it," he insisted. "I drove out the crawlers, now it's mine!"

"Was this campsite here when you found it?" She decided to change her question, pushing back the unnerving thought that she might end up like this if she survived the Blight.

"Everything was here," the dwarf said, much more calmly than before. "Everything the crawlers did not already take! Rocks and tents and worms! It's all mine!" And there he went again. 

"I'm not here to steal anything, I promise," she assured him.

"Pretty lady… pretty eyes, pretty hair… smells like the steam of burning water, blue as the deepest rock…" Elyssa wasn't sure how to take that. "So… the pretty lady won't take anything from Ruck? You won't take Ruck's shiny worms and pretty rocks?" 

"If it's valuable, I might trade you for it," she suggested.

"Oh… Ruck not mind that, maybe."

"So your name is Ruck?" she asked, remembering the woman who had been praying for her son, also named Ruck. 

"Ruck not a pretty name, not pretty like lady," he admitted, sounding almost regretful. "Ruck is small and ugly and twisted.

"I think I met your mother. Is her name Filda?" Elyssa asked. This seemed to set off something inside Ruck. 

"N-n-n-no," he stuttered. "No Filda. No mother. No warm blanket and stew and pillow and soft words! Ruck doesn't deserve good memories. No-no-no-no-no--"

"Your mother misses you. She asked me to find you," she told him.

"Sh-she did not know, not what I did," he stuttered. "I was very, very, very, very angry and then someone was dead. They wanted to send Ruck to the mines. If I went to the mines sh-she would know. Everyone would know. So I came here, instead." He paused and looked up at Elyssa. "Once you eat… once you take in the darkness… you not miss the light so much. You know, do you not? Ruck sees, yes. He sees the darkness inside you." Elyssa felt her blood go cold, but she did her best to hide it.

"I'm a Grey Warden," she told him, hearing the hint of an edge to her voice. "It's not the same."

"Grey like the stone. Guardian against the darkness. Beautiful like waterfalls under the lichen," he muttered. 

"You have to tell your mother you're alive," Elyssa suggested.

"No, no, no! She cannot… she remembers a boy, a little boy, with bright eyes and a hammer and she **cannot see this!** Swear-promise-vow you won't tell!"

"You're right," she admitted. "Telling her this would be cruel."

"T-tell the mother Ruck is dead," he requested. "He's dead and his bones are rotting in the crawlers' webs and she should never look again." 

"Alright, I'll tell her that," she agreed, a little put off by the image his words brought to her head. 

"Pretty lady is like Mother, yes. Too good, too pretty for the darkness," he muttered. She found herself wishing he was right. 

"How did you survive here?" she asked, changing the subject.

"When the dark ones were here, I kept to the shadows," he explained. "They don't look in the shadows, not if you're quiet. Not if you eat their flesh. Then the dark ones think you're one of them. They leave you alone. But now they're gone."

"Do you know where the dark ones went?" she asked, knowing he was referring to the darkspawn. It was weird that they hadn't seen any within the thaig. The last darkspawn had been battling spiders just outside it.

"I thinks they went south, pretty lady," he said after a moment. "Far, far to the south. That is where the dark master calls them with his beautiful voice. So much joy when he awoke!" 

"Mmmm… He's talking about the archdemon, huh?" Oghren asked. Elyssa had come to the same conclusion. If the dark ones were darkspawn, it stood to reason that the dark master was the archdemon.

"After the dark master awoke, he called his children and they all went. I wanted to go, too, and gaze upon his beauty…" Ruck sounded almost enthralled.

"Where is the dark master now? Do you know?" she asked, curious to know but dreading the answer. This, plus the dreams, could only mean that they really were in the midst of a true Blight. 

"He stopped calling," he admitted. "I wish I could go see him, but Ruck, no, no, Ruck-Ruck is a coward."

"When did you arrive here?" she asked, again changing the subject. She was, at this point, mostly curious about the dwarf who was rather obviously succumbing to the corruption she knew was in her veins as well.

"Too long ago. I must think… five years? Six? Ruck no longer remembers the smells and sights of the city."

"Did you find anything unusual at this camp?" she asked, deciding now was as good a time as any to get to the heart of the matter. 

"Bits of things, but only bits," he told her. "The crawlers took almost everything. They takes things of steel and things of paper. They takes the shinies and the words."

"Paper and words?" Oghren echoed. "That sounds like someone who was taking notes. Do you think Branka camped here?" Elyssa nodded. Branka was the only one who'd been this far down recently enough to leave a camp in any sort of useable condition. 

"They bring to the great nest, the nest they makes for the eggs," Ruck continued. "They puts the shinies inside, they do." Elyssa finally decided to leave. She couldn't bring herself to kill him; the taint would do that eventually. But she would carry his words to his mother, as he had requested. 

They left Ruck behind and continued their trek through the thaig. Elyssa had already lost track of how long they'd been in the Deep Roads. It had to have been a few days, at least. It was good she'd decided to bring Shale, the golem could keep watch while the rest of them slept, so none of them were overtired when they woke. The lack of sunlight definitely made it difficult to tell how much time had passed.

Inside a chest, stuck in what must have at one point been the alcove of some building, was what appeared to be the genealogy of House Ortan. After guessing there must be somewhere in Orzammar she could take the records, she stuck the scroll in the tube she carried the old treaties in.

As they went through the thaig, Elyssa found herself wishing she could turn into a golem like she had during her adventure in the Fade. She was worried about chinking her sword against the stones. She had traded her family sword for Duncan's, for the moment, and had left the sword with Alistair at camp hoping he would take care of it for her. Duncan's sword, she'd been told, seemed to be enchanted to do extra damage against darkspawn. She figured she'd need that in the Deep Roads. Hopefully she wouldn't damage it with all the golems they were facing. 

After defeating what appeared to be the spiders' leader, they searched around a bit and found some sort of research station, with a journal. The cover was battered and torn, but intact. A bit of the text caught Elyssa's eye as she leafed through it.

"We found evidence today that the Anvil of the Void was not built in Ortan Thaig," she read aloud. "We will go south, to the Dead Trenches. The Anvil is somewhere beyond." She looked up. "I thought you said they were north and west of here?" 

"Doesn't mean there's a direct route to it," he reminded her in a somewhat disapproving tone. "Keep reading."

"My soldiers tell me I am mad, that the Dead Trenches are crawling with darkspawn, that we will surely die before we find the Anvil… if we find it," she continued. "I leave this here in case they're right. If I die in the Trenches, perhaps someone can yet walk past my corpse and retrieve the Anvil. For if it remains lost, so do we all." She paused and turned the page. "If I have not returned and Oghren yet lives, tell him… No, what I have to say should be for his ears alone. This is my farewell." Oghren mentioned that he was going after Branka, regardless of the darkspawn, and Elyssa knew she couldn't return to Bhelen without more definitive proof. So down they went. 

When they got through the tunnel, they entered a large cavern. Elyssa's head buzzed annoyingly, but she couldn't figure out why. Then she went to the edge of the cliff and looked down. There, far below, was the majority of the darkspawn horde. That was why her head buzzed. No, it was less of a buzz and more of a buzzy sort of whisper, one that she really couldn't understand, and it made her head hurt. It suddenly got louder, and a huge dragon soared over them, landing on a nearby bridge. She shoved Leliana and Oghren back from the cliff, falling to one knee with one hand on her head and the other on the pommel of her sword. The dragon, no, the archdemon, shot a blast of blue flame over the horde in one direction, turned, and then did the same thing in the other. Elyssa squeezed her eyes shut. The whispering made her head feel like it was going to split open. But she could almost understand it. There was a pattern to the sounds, and it was recognizable. But with the beating of its huge wings, the archdemon flew off and her head began to clear again.

"Are you alright?" Leliana asked, the look on her face a combination of concern and curiosity.

"I… don't know," Elyssa admitted, standing up and looking at where the archdemon had been. "Alistair said some things are worse for Wardens who join during a Blight. Maybe that was part of it." She sighed and shook her head. The dreams were one thing, but seeing the archdemon with her own eyes was another thing entirely. She'd have to be sure to mention it to Alistair when they finally got back to the surface. "Let's just keep moving. The sooner we're out of here, the sooner my headache goes away, and the sooner the whispers stop." The others didn't comment, they simply followed her. They came to the end of the bridge and found a group of dwarves fighting the darkspawn. Was this the Legion of the Dead Oghren had mentioned earlier? Regardless, Elyssa drew her sword and started fighting with the dwarves. 

"Atrast vala, Grey Warden," said the man who appeared to be in charge. "I've never seen one of your kind in the Deep Roads."

"And yet you don't sound surprised," she countered.

"In the Legion of the Dead, we abandon our lives to be free of fear, free of hopeful blindness. The coming Blight is obvious to us," he explained. "The surprise is not that you have come, but that you have come in so small a number." Right. She was the only Warden in the group at the moment. She'd left Alistair at their camp on the surface. "What do you want here, Warden?"

"I need to find Paragon Branka," she said simply. 

"Who put this dull idea in your head?" he exclaimed. "We've got other things to worry about in Orzammar… ah, now I see. The deep lords in the Assembly can't make up their minds, so the pretenders need added influence. I get that right?"

"That's about it. You have anything useful to add?" she asked, one eyebrow raised. 

"Warden, you have your work cut out for you," he told her. "Paragon Branka is dead, everyone with sense knows it. Past our line, the darkspawn kill everything."

"Why hold back?" she challenged.

"I'd gladly lead an assault through the Dead Trenches, but without an ass in the throne, we have no orders," he complained. "I won't take fool's gold from a pretender. You want to go digging blind, you go right ahead."

"Ever heard of the Anvil of the Void?"

"Like dusters have heard of respect," he responded. "Never seen it, and if it exists it wasn't meant for me. But if you're looking for Paragons, you may as well look for the Anvil. And endless Lyrium."

"Tell me more about the Legion of the Dead," she requested.

"We die in the eyes of our brothers so we can fight without fear," he explained simply. "It offers redemption for the promise of the greatest sacrifice. That's all you need to know. To say more invites judgment. Or worse, imitation."

"Goodbye then," Elyssa said politely.

"Good luck, Grey Warden."

The gate at the far end of the bridge didn't look like it was going to open any time soon, so the four of them searched around for another way through. After defeating the ogre and genlock archers that stood in their way, of course. To the left of the gate, they found a small tunnel in the rock that lead around it and into the city on the other side. There, they were attacked by a few hurlocks with a bronto, a pair of genlocks, and a genlock emissary. Of course, the road straight through had collapsed a while ago, so they had to find a way around. 

In one of the later chambers, a voice echoed around them. _"First day they come and catch everyone."_ The monotone seemed to continue through the next tunnel. _"Second day, they beat us and eat some for meat."_ The voice was unnerving. _"Fifth day, they return, and it's another girl's turn."_

"What are we hearing…?" Elyssa asked softly. None of her companions responded.

 _"Sixth day, her screams we hear in our dreams."_ Was this some trick of magic? Now Elyssa found herself regretting she hadn't brought Morrigan. _Seventh day, she grew as in her mouth they spew."_ Now that was just getting gross. But who, or what, was _they_? And who's voice were they hearing? _"Eight day, we hated as she is violated."_ The voice sounded angry now, the monotone broken by the sudden flux of emotion. _"Ninth day, she grins and devours her kin."_ A thought occurred to her. What if this was something that had to do with a part of the darkspawn they didn't know about? She filed the information away, as awful as some of it was, and planned to bring it to Alistair's attention later. _"Now she does feast, as she's become the beast."_ Well, that was certainly something. She had suspicions, but nothing more. None of the words they'd heard had given them anything that was easy to understand. 

Following the voice led them through a door, where they found a dwarf woman. With the same bruises and look on her face as Ruck had, but she seemed to have more of her mind still. She was repeating what they'd heard before, except more.

"Third day, the men are all gnawed on again," she said, in the same monotonous voice. "Fourth day, we wait and fear for our fate. Fifth day, they return and it's another girl's turn." Elyssa interrupted her because she couldn't listen to it again. When she approached, the woman stood and turned to face her, her movements sporadic like some wind-up toy. 

"What is this? A human? Bland and unlikely." Her skin was pale, as if she was suffering from a high fever, and her face was covered in dark blotches. "Feeding time brings only kith and kin…"

"Is this darkspawn corruption?" Elyssa wondered. "It looks… different."

"Corruption! The men did that!" the dwarf woman said suddenly. "Their wounds festered and their minds left. They are like dogs, marched ahead, the first to die. Not us. Not me. Not Laryn. We are not cut. We are fed. Friends… and flesh… and blood… and bile… and… and…" Maybe her mind was more gone than Elyssa had first guessed. "All I could do was wish Laryn went first. I wished it upon her so that I would be spared." Her speech was halting, fast in moments and hesitant in others, almost like a child would speak. "But I had to watch. I had to see the change. How do you endure that? How did Branka endure?"

"What change?" the Warden asked, latching onto the new information. "What are they doing?"

"What they are allowed to do. What they think they must. And Branka…" There was a hint of remorse, or something like it, in her voice now. "Her lover, and I could not turn her. Forgive her… but no, she cannot be forgiven. Not for what she did. Not for what she has become." Well, that was interesting. 

"A lover in the dark," Elyssa echoed, glancing at Oghren. "No wonder she left you."

"This explains a lot," he admitted. "Of course, if I knew she had those interests, I could've made some adjustments!" Elyssa heard the sound Leliana made, rolling her own eyes and returning her attention to the dwarf whose name they still didn't know. 

"There is too much darkness here," she continued. "The Anvil, it is in the darkness, surrounded by it, pulling Branka in. No… I swore not to speak of it, not to think of it. La-la-la-la-la. I will not hear any more about Branka."

"Help me and I'll take you to her," Elyssa offered.

"They spit bile and blood in my mouth. I would rather die than bring that with me, than have… her… see me like this." Before Elyssa could respond, the dwarf was off and running down the tunnel. Besides the way the group had come, the dwarf woman went the only other way. So they followed, though at a slower pace. Except that when they emerged into the far end of Bownammar, the turn that the dwarf woman took was a dead end. 

"What the…? You saw that too, right?" Elyssa asked.

"There's probably a switch, or a trap door," Leliana suggested. Elyssa sighed.

"We don't have time to search for her, we've been down here long enough as it is. Besides… She's lost to the corruption." Elyssa turned the other direction and made for the gate, this one smaller than the one on the other end. 

_"She became obsessed. That is the word, but it is not strong enough. Blessed Stone, there was nothing left in her but the Anvil."_ the dwarf's voice echoed again. There was little time to react to the words before a pair of ogres came at them. _"We tried to escape, but they found us. They took us all, turned us…"_ This time, the voice led them to a door, on the other side of which was a high-ceiling room carved out of a reflective grey-black stone. There were more of the spirits inside that had attacked them back in Ortan Thaig.

"Bownammar…" Oghren muttered. "I thought it would've fallen into dust by now." 

They approached an altar at the far end of the room, and Elyssa took the key that seemed to match the door that she knew opened the gate. On the way back through, however, the dwarf spirits attacked. The six spirits were easily dispatched, and the key was used to open the door that led out of Bownammar.

 _"They took Laryn. They made her eat the others, our friends. She tore off her husband's face and drank his blood."_ Well, this was getting more than a little gross. _"And while she ate, she grew. She swelled and turned grey and she smelled like them. They remade her in their image. Then she made more of them."_

"Wait a minute. Darkspawn take dwarven women and… use the corruption to turn them into something?" Elyssa wondered. "This is more than we've ever known about the darkspawn. Does this mean we're getting close to something no one has seen before?" 

_"Broodmother…"_ the dwarf's voice said, as if to answer her. Elyssa filed the information away, as she had the rest, to mention to Alistair later. Maybe he knew more. 

When they came to the end of the tunnel, a horrid sight awaited them. It was a beast that had once been a woman, perhaps this Laryn that the other dwarf kept speaking of. But it was wrong. Twisted. Monstrous. Five pairs of breasts, each pair larger than the last. One set of arms, from whatever race this thing had been before, and tentacles that stretched through the flesh-covered ground. Easily twice as tall as Elyssa was. But it didn't seem to move, instead using the tentacles to reach for them as they tried to fight it. Shrieks and hurlocks kept appearing from the shadows as they fought, an attempt to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. The knowledge that they wouldn't be able to survive if they were defeated here was what kept them fighting this creature. 

"That's where they come from," the dwarf woman began again once the Broodmother was dead, from a spot up above where they'd been fighting. "That's why they hate us… That's why they need us. That's why they take us… that's why they feed us. But the true abomination… is not that it occurred, but that it was allowed. Branka… my love… The Stone has punished me, dream-friend. I am dying of something worse than death. Betrayal." Then she turned and walked off. They couldn't reach the path she'd taken, assuming she had taken an unseen path instead of simply ending her own life so she didn't end up a Broodmother as well, so they found another way around.


	46. The Anvil of the Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know the stories about how the elves used to be practically immortal? Yeah, well, this guy's immortality isn't like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, somehow I glitched out of the room with the golems and the gas valves, so I have no idea what I actually missed between the four golems and Caridin. I approached one of the side doors and suddenly triggered the cutscene with Caridin. And couldn't get back through the door. 
> 
> I'll also be doing some Shayle / Shale switching from now on, and yes it is intentional.

This seemed like the deepest they could go right now. They came out of the tunnel, and, of course, a trap closed the way behind them. A quick glance around showed who had sprung it. 

"Shave my back and call me an elf! Branka? By the Stone, I barely recognized you!" 

"Oghren," the new dwarf, Branka, responded. "It figures you'd eventually find your way here. Hopefully you can find your way back more easily." This was the Paragon they'd been searching for? How was she even still alive? "And how shall I address you?" she asked, looking at Elyssa and ignoring Leliana and Shale. "Hired sword of the latest lordling to come looking for me? Or just the only one who didn't mind Oghren's ale-breath?"

"Be respectful, woman!" Oghren responded, sounding outraged. Odd, considering they'd barely known each other. "You're talking to a Grey Warden!"

"Ah, so an important errand boy, then," Branka said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I suppose something serious has happened. Is Endrin dead? That seems most likely. He was on the old and wheezy side."

"He is dead, yes, and the Assembly is deadlocked," Elyssa confirmed. 

"Then what is your involvement in this? Why would a surfacer be interested in dwarven politics?" Branka wondered aloud. Elyssa opened her mouth to respond, to bring up the Blight on the surface, but the dwarf continued to speak. "You must have a patron. A highly-placed patron. And they must want something in particular. Now, what might that be?" Again she paused, as if expecting an answer, but continued before an answer could be given. "I don't care if the Assembly puts a drunken monkey on the throne. Because our protector, our great invention, the thing that once made our armies the envy of the world, is lost to the very darkspawn it should be fighting. The Anvil of the Void. The means by which the ancient forged their army of golems and held off the first archdemon ever to rise. It's here. So close I can taste it."

"But of course there's a catch."

"The Anvil lies on the other side of a gauntlet of traps designed by Caradin himself." Elyssa was struck by the choice of words. Gauntlet of traps? She'd already been through one of those, how hard could a dwarven one be? "My people and I have given body and soul to unlocking its secrets. This is what's important. This has lasting meaning. If I succeed, the dwarven people benefit. Kings, politics, all that is transitory. I've given up everything and would sacrifice anything to get to the Anvil of the Void." Even a hidden lover, apparently.

"Why chase the impossible when your people need you now?" Elyssa challenged. 

"I did not say I couldn't reach it, simply that I have not yet," Branka clarified. "Every day, trial and error reveal new clues to Caridin's workings. There s only one way out, Warden. Forward. Through Caridin's maze and out to where the Anvil waits."

"What has this place done to you?!" Oghren yelled suddenly, startling Elyssa. "I remember marrying a girl you could talk to for one minute and see her brilliance." He sounded almost sad as he spoke.

"I am your Paragon," was all Branka responded with. She walked away, having been on some upper walkway that they couldn't reach from where they were. 

Elyssa went toward the edge and glanced down. "Well, this explains the heat," she said with a sigh, turning around to follow the tunnel. 

"I wanted people to test Caridin's traps," Branka's voice echoed down the tunnel. "There is no way to break through except by trial and error. I send them in…" Following the voice down the tunnel led them to more darkspawn, but that was no surprise by this point. Branka was on the same upper walkway that they couldn't reach. "They were all mine, pledged to be my house, and they didn't want to help. They tried to leave me, even my Hespith…" Hespith. Was that the name of the other dwarf woman they'd met earlier? "But even she couldn’t understand that when you reach for greatness, there are sacrifices. As many sacrifices as are needed." At that point, more darkspawn attacked and Elyssa was a bit too distracted to listen to what Branka was saying.

"She shouldn't have gone. She was pledged to me. She swore she'd do whatever it took to find the Anvil," was what Elyssa heard next. "There was no other choice. Most of them were dying of the taint already, but some… some of the women were… transforming." This was what Hespith had told them. About the Broodmothers. "I knew what they would become. There would be an endless supply, fresh darkspawn to test the traps. The could still serve me, let me find the Anvil. It was the only way." Elyssa was struck by the thought that this woman was quite mad. Who would willingly watch those they care about suffer if they can do something about it? She fell silent, so they continued through the tunnels. This new tunnel was covered in bright blue spikes of raw lyrium, like the ones she'd seen in the Raw Fade back in the Circle Tower. 

They came to a doorway at the other end of the tunnel, which led to a room filled with some sort of gas and a number of golems. The first golem came to life while Elyssa went around the room to close the gas valves, and the others served as a distraction. With the valves closed, the air quickly cleared, and a second golem woke as soon as the first one fell. This process repeated itself until all four golems had been defeated.

When they finally got through, they were greeted by six stone golems in two rows, three on each side, as they approached a golem of metal that stood before them.

"My name is Caridin," the metal golem said. "Once, longer ago than I care to think, I was a Paragon to the dwarves of Orzammar." 

"Caridin? The Paragon smith? Alive?" Shale asked, voicing the question the rest of them were thinking. 

"Ah, there is a voice I recognize," Caridin said suddenly, a sudden happy tone to his voice. "Shayle of the House of Cadash, step forward."

"You… know my name?" Shale asked, sounding surprised. "Is it you that forged me, then? Is it you that gave me my name?"

"Have you forgotten then?" he asked with a soft sigh. "It has been so long." He sounded almost sad, behind the slightly metallic tone to his voice. "I made you into the golem you are now, Shayle, but before that you were a dwarf, just as I was. The finest warrior to serve King Valtor, and the only woman to volunteer."

"The only… woman? A dwarf?" Shale sounded just as confused as the rest of them. It was odd, thinking of their golem companion as a woman. But, Elyssa reasoned, it made sense. Shale had been worried about the crystals making her look bigger than she was, and had mentioned that she thought they were pretty. Thinking about it, it did make sense. 

"I laid you on the Anvil of the Void, here in this very room, and put you into the form you now possess," Caridin explained. 

"The Anvil of the Void… that is what we seek," she told him.

"If you seek the Anvil, then you must care about my story, or be doomed to relive it," Caradin responded, shifting to face Elyssa. 

"You made the Anvil," Elyssa remembered. Oghren had said it was what made Caridin a Paragon.

"Though I made many things in my time, I rose to fame and earned my status based on a single item: The Anvil of the Void." Good, she had remembered correctly. "It allowed me to forge a man of steel or stone, as flexible and clever as any soldier. As an army, they were invincible. But I told no one the cost. No mere smith, however skilled, has the power to create life. To make my golems live, I had to take their lives from elsewhere."

"Sounds like blood magic," she realized. "A dangerous road." After such a recent dance with blood mages, she wasn't keen on repeating anything even remotely similar. 

"The darkspawn were pressing in," he continued. "Originally, I only took volunteers, the bravest of souls willing to trade their very lives for the chance to defend their homeland. But King Valtor became greedy He began to force men… casteless and criminals… his political enemies… all of them were to be given to the Anvil. It took feeling the hammer's blow myself to realize the height of my crimes."

"What now?" Elyssa asked. "Do you want revenge?"

"Not revenge," he assured her. "The blow of the hammer opened my eyes. My apprentices knew enough to make me as I am, but not enough to fashion a control rod. I retained my mind. You were amongst the most loyal, Shayle. You remained at my side throughout, and at the end I sent you away out of mercy."

"I… do not remember," Shale admitted, sounding slightly amazed. 

"We have remained entoumbed here ever since, and I have sought a way to destroy the Anvil," Caridin continued. "Alas, I cannot do it myself. No golem can touch it."

"No!" came a sudden exclamation. "The Anvil is mine! No one will take it from me!" Branka ran toward them, almost from nowhere. 

"Shayle, you fought to destroy the Anvil once!" Caridin told her, speaking quickly now. "Do not allow it to fall into unthinking hands again!"

"You speak of things I do not remember," Shayle admitted. "You say we fought… did you use our control rods to command us to do so?"

"I destroyed the rods!" he insisted. "Perhaps my apprentices eventually learned to replace the rods, I do not know, but if so, then all they need is the Anvil to make all the slaves they need!" He turned to Elyssa. "You! Please… help me destroy the Anvil! Do not let it enslave more souls than it already has!"

"You were a Paragon," Elyssa remembered. "I'll help if you support a new king."

"Don't listen!" Branka demanded. "He's been trapped here for a thousand years, stewing in his own madness." Elyssa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Caridin wasn't the mad one here. "Help me claim the Anvil, and you will have an army like you've never seen!"

"Branka, you mad, bleeding nug-tail," Oghren spoke up before Elyssa could respond. "Does this thing mean so much to you that you can't even see what you've lost to get it?"

"Look around!" Branka insisted. "Is this what our empire should look like? A crumbling tunnel filled with darkspawn spume? The Anvil will let us take back our glory!"

"The Anvil enslaves living souls," Elyssa said decisively. "It must be destroyed."

"So it fights with Caridin," Shale said. "Good. That seems right."

"Thank you, stranger," Caridin responded. "Your compassion shames me."

"No! You will not take it! Not while I still live!" Branka insisted. Elyssa sighed and reached for her blade. 

"Branka! Don't throw your life away for this!" Oghren said, attempting to reason with her one last time. 

"We have to destroy the Anvil," Elyssa said again.

"Just give her the blasted thing!" Oghren insisted. "She's confused… Maybe once she calms down, we can talk to her."

"That's not a risk I'm willing to take," Elyssa admitted softly. Trusting the wrong person was what had killed her parents, and nearly taken her own life, after all. 

"Bah! You are not the only master smith here, Caridin!" Branka pulled out a control rod, much to everyone's surprise. "Golems, obey me! Attack!"

"A control rod! But…" Caridin suddenly seemed to freeze up. "My friend, you must help me! I cannot stop her alone!" 

_As if I was going to stand by and watch?_ Elyssa told herself, drawing her blade. 

"Another life lost because of my invention…" Caridin said mournfully once the fight was done. "I wish no mention of it had made it into history."

"Yeah, you ain't kidding," Oghren agreed. "Stupid woman! Anyway knew the Anvil would kill her." 

"How is it that the woman was not able to disable me as she did you, Caridin?" Shale asked, sounding curious. 

"I do not know," he admitted. "Have you been altered?"

"I once had a pathetic little mage of a master. He… did something to me. Experimented on me. And then I killed him and it rendered me paralyzed," she explained. 

"Hm. Perhaps he was bringing forth old memories? And caused you to remember the time when you fought at my side," he guessed. "The paralysis you speak of always resulted when the master perished. As for your free will… you were always a strong woman, Shayle. I am pleased to see you remained such." 

"I don't know what to say. Thank you."

Caridin sighed. "Do not thank me. All of this… this is my doing, my legacy. But at least it ends here. I thank you for standing with me, stranger. The Anvil waits there for you to shatter it." He paused. "Is there any boon I can grant you for your aid? A final favor before I am freed from my burden?"

"Oghren? You lost Branka to this. What do you want?"

"I don't suppose you could bring Branka back? Maybe make her a golem, like you?" Elyssa winced. That wasn't what she'd expected, and it probably wasn't going to go over well with the Paragon.

"I would not do such a thing to her even if I could," Caridin responded gently. 

"Somehow, I didn't think so," Oghren admitted, sounding resigned. "Then I don't want anything that would remind me of… this. Best it's just done. There is still the matter of the election. I mean… we need a Paragon to get the Assembly's support, right?" Elyssa nodded. 

"For the aid you have given me, I shall put hammer to steel one last time, and give you a crown for the king of your choice," Caridin said. They got to watch as the Paragon Smith made one last creation. 

"There, it is done," he said, handing the crown of gold and jewels to Elyssa. "Give it to whom you will." She opened her mouth to ask him which one he would support, but he held up one hand to stop her. "I do not wish to hear their names, nor anything more of them. I have already lived far beyond my time. I have no place here."

"I will destroy the Anvil, as agreed," she told him instead. 

"That would please me, human." She approached the Anvil and grasped the hammer, holding it tightly with both hands. It had looked so small when Caridin was next to it, but to be so close made her realize the sheer size of the Anvil. She lifted the hammer over her head and brought it down on the Anvil, and after just a few strokes, the creation that had enslaved so many was shattered. Hopefully, none would bother hunting for it again. She left the hammer in the remains of the Anvil, and descended the stairs again to where the others were waiting. Caridin walked over to the edge, where the stone dropped off into the magma river below. 

"You have my eternal thanks, stranger. Atrast nal tunsha… may you always find your way in the dark." With those last words, the Paragon leaned forward and fell into the river below. 

On the way back to the tunnel, a set of stone tablets caught Elyssa's attention. Well, the golem statue did first, and then the tablets it appeared to be holding. Upon closer inspection, the dwarven runes appeared to be a list of names, with house stamps next to each one. There was a different line of runes at the bottom, but because Elyssa couldn't read the dwarf language she had no idea what any of it was actually saying.

"Shale, do you recognize this at all?" Elyssa asked.

"No," the golem said. "Perhaps it thinks I should? It may have something to do with Caridin's words. If there is some way to make a copy of these runes, I am willing to study them. Perhaps there is something to be gleaned from them. I know not."

"What do you make of it Oghren?"

"Huh. Names. A long list of dwarves. Err… Hold on. _We honor those who have made this sacrifice; let their names be remembered._ Fart me a lullaby, it's a memorial… of all the dwarves who became golems! Has to be!" This alone made Elyssa glad she'd agreed to bring Oghren along with her. "If there was some way of getting this back to the Shaperate in Orzammar, I'd bet they'd brown their trousers! And pay good gold for it. Probably both."

"I think I have some supplies in my pack to take a tracing," Elyssa realized, searching for the supplies in question. The stack of papers were returned to her pack once she was done. "Now, we're going to have to find a new way out of here. Branka blocked the tunnel behind us."

"Shayle of house Cadash… Is that who I once was? I find this difficult to believe…"

"You think the name's a coincidence?" Elyssa asked, shouldering her pack again and looking up at the golem.

"If I was this Shayle of House Cadash as Caridin said, there must be some evidence of my existence remaining. I must find it."

"Perhaps there are records in Orzammar?" she suggested. 

"There is another way," Shale insisted. "What Caridin said, it has allowed me to remember one thing. I believe I know where Cadash Thaig is."

"Isn't that prof right there?"

"Perhaps it cannot understand what it means to be blank, but I must know. I must be certain." Shale seemed pretty certain about it, so Elyssa decided to agree. They were already down in the Deep Roads anyway, what harm would a small detour do?

"We can go there, if you like," she said, turning away and heading for the tunnel. 

"Its offer is appreciated. I will mark the location on its map. If we can journey there soon, I am most curious as to what we will find."

"Well, that pretty much beat the sod out of how I imagined it," Oghren said as they approached the mouth of the tunnel. "You ready to head back yet and share the news?" 

"Let's find Cadash Thaig first," Elyssa suggested. "We're already down here, and it's not like it'll be that far out of the way. "

"Those deshyrs have been trying to destroy the city for years," he said offhandedly. "Haven't managed yet."

"Then they won't mind us taking a few more days to get back. As long as we don't lose the crown. It's kind of our proof that we've met both paragons." He chuckled and led the way back through the tunnel. 

Cadash Thaig wasn't too far off the cross, it turned out. Just a little further south and a bit to the west from Ortan Thaig.

"This is it. Cadash Thaig," Shale said when they made it out of the tunnel.

"Don't let your guard down," Elyssa reminded her companions. 

"These ruins are always overrun by vermin. There may be something noteworthy further in, however." And, of course, darkspawn were crawling all over the thaig. 

"I see nothing," Shale said as they crossed a bridge that gave them a slight vantage over the surrounding area. "Whatever was here is gone." And when they hit the ground on the other side of the bridge, they were ambushed by a group of Deepstalkers. A few of which had split off from the pack and were instead attacking two hurlocks and a genlock. Did nothing down here get along? 

There was a large statue in the middle that had caught Elyssa's attention. The memorial in Caridin's cave-room-thing had been a huge statue. Maybe that's what this statue was. 

"What is this?" Shale wondered when they approached it. "This… This I remember. It has dates and names. This is to honor those who volunteered. Those who became golems. And-and there is my name. Shayle of House Cadash. Just as Caridin said. I remember now. I-I remember Shayle. That… was me."

"You remember? That's wonderful," Elyssa said genuinely. 

"Wonderful to remember being a soft, squishy creature of flesh? Perhaps," she responded, in her usual semi-sarcastic tone. "I will need to think on these things I have learned. Perhaps I will speak to it of them soon. For now, let us carry on as we have." 

"To Orzammar then," Elyssa said with a nod. The return trip took them about the same time to get back to Orzammar from Caridin's Cross. When they did, the Assembly was a mess.

"I call for a vote right now! My father has one living child to assume the Aeducan throne." Bhelen was saying.

"Your father made me swear on his deathbed you would not succeed him," Harrowmont responded. 

"I apologize for the interruption, Lord Steward, but the Grey Warden has returned," their guide said timidly. It was understandable for him to be nervous, these kinds of political negotiations had always set Elyssa on edge, and she'd been raised in them. 

"Well, Warden? What news do you bring?" Bhelen asked.

"I bear a crown from Paragon Caridin for his chosen king," she reported, her tone cool and formal. 

"Caridin was trapped in the body of a golem," Oghren explained for her. "This Warden granted him the mercy he sought, releasing him and destroying the Anvil of the Void. Before he died, Caridin forged a crown for Orzammar's next king, chosen by the ancestors themselves!"

"I would like to believe Oghren's word, but it's well-known the Grey Warden is Bhelen's hireling," Harrowmont protested. Other dwarves also joined their voices to his.

"Silence!" the steward yelled over the others. "This crown is of Paragon make, and bears House Ortan's ancient seal." He looked up from the crown to Elyssa. "Tell us Warden: whom did Caridin choose?" 

"Caridin chose Bhelen," she responded simply. It wasn't entirely wrong, either. He'd said for her to pick, which would've meant his support of whoever she supported. At least, that was how she saw it. And none of the dwarf nobles needed to know otherwise. 

"At last, this farce is ended and I can take my rightful place on my father's throne." The steward held the crown while Bhelen descended the steps and knelt at the other man's feet. The crown was placed on Bhelen's head, and a cheer went up from his supporters. He turned toward Harrowmont. "Do you acknowledge me as king?" he asked.

"I… cannot defy a Paragon," Lord Harrowmont said, resigned. "The throne is yours… King Bhelen." 

"Then as my first act as king, I call for this man's execution!" Bhelen ordered. "Guards! Seize him!"

"Harrowmont was an honorable rival," Elyssa said, in an attempt to sway the new dwarf king. "Let him retire in peace." 

"You know better than anyone the war facing us, Warden," he responded. "Orzammar cannot afford to be divided. Anyone undermining my reign is serving only the darkspawn. I will return to my palace to gather my generals and prepare our forces for the surface. I will see you there, Warden. You have my gratitude for all you've done for me."

Elyssa knew that meant she wouldn't have time to meet the others at their camp outside the city. She sighed as she watched the nobles file outside. 

"I can return to camp and let the others know we have returned," Leliana offered.

"I'd appreciate that," Elyssa said with a small smile. "We detoured to Cadash Thaig and took at least an extra few days, if not a week."

"I'm sure Alistair will be glad to know you are safe." Elyssa simply waved her off, eliciting a slight laugh from the redhead before she left for the Commons, then to beyond the gate to find the rest of their friends. Elyssa proceeded to follow Bhelen back to the palace. 

"You have proven yourself and more, Warden," he said when she joined him later. "Without your aid, I would not have taken this throne so smoothly or so soon."

"You will be a stronger king than Harrowmont."

"His name need not pass your lips again," Bhelen said, the hardness in his voice catching Elyssa off-guard. "My generals are already preparing for a mission to the surface. When you have need of us, you shall have every able-bodied dwarf in Orzammar." He paused and reached for something out of sight. "Since you did more than I expected, I offer a personal reward as well. This was a maul favored by my brother Trian. Take it with you as a reminder of your ties to Orzammar. Now, I have much to do. If there's nothing else…" 

"I need to return to the surface. Thank you for your aid," Elyssa said formally. 

"Good luck, Warden. May we both crush our enemies."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some decent progress last night, so here's a second chapter in as many days! Enjoy. We're getting sorta close-ish to being done.


	47. Soldier's Peak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know they have Amaranthine now, but there's a Warden fortress in every country. Well, except the Qunari lands I suppose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got all the way through the first adventure at Fort Drakon last night, so I've got a few chapters up and ready. Guess I just got into a Dragon Age mood recently.
> 
> Also, I realized I'd forgotten about this when I went to find the party storage chest and triggered a cutscene instead. Enjoy!

"If I'd heard it second-hand I'd have called it a sodding lie," said a familiar voice as they exited the palace for the Diamond Quarter. "Warden, we've got a king because of you. The rest, impressive, but the Legion is grateful most for restored leadership. It frees us to fight to the darkspawn properly."

"I'm glad," Elyssa said with a nod. "Ferelden needs you at your best."

"Nay, our place is down here," Kardol said with a shake of his head. "When you break the Blight, and you've got the skill, we'll make sure they have nowhere to retreat. You'll have us indirectly. That's more than any surfacer can say."

"We need you topside," she insisted. "Show the world your skill."

"You alone have the skill to back up your words," he admitted. "Each of us owes our homeland a death, but if our lives are better shed on the surface, so be it! Back to Orzammar when we win, though. I'll not stay topside to lose my stone sense," he added with a laugh before walking away. Instead of going straight for the commons, Elyssa decided to stop by the Shaperate with the bits of information they'd found in the Deep Roads. The family tree and the tracings of the memorial that Caridin had. There was a dwarf girl looking for her family history, and it happened to be the family tree from Ortan Thaig. The tracings were given to the Lord Shaper, and an artifact offered and taken as reward. And then, it was back to camp. 

Oghren sighed when they emerged from the mountain. Elyssa winced and shaded her eyes with one arm. So long underground meant she needed time to readjust to the sun. "Give me a moment," he said, sounding almost nervous. 

"Sure, take your time," Elyssa told him. "My eyes need to readjust after spending so long down there anyway."

"By the stone, I feel like I'm about to fall off the world with all that sky up there…"

"Is it that strange to you?" she asked, curious.

"Strange? Hah. Strange is your wife turning out to prefer the ladies. Not living in a world without a bleeding ceiling," he countered. "Well, let's get moving. We're losing… whatchacallit? Daylight."

"Welcome back," Wynne said when the four of them approached camp. "Who's this?"

"Oghren, he's here to help us," Elyssa said quickly. "He helped us navigate the Deep Roads. And yes, we have the dwarves' help now." She made her way to where Alistair was sitting by the fire and sat next to him. "All that's left to do is find the elves."

"And then go back to Redcliffe and call the Landsmeet, somehow beat Loghain at his own game, decide who's going to rule Ferelden, and then beat the darkspawn," Alistair said helpfully. Elyssa playfully shoved him with her shoulder. 

"Oh, but first we need to stop by the Circle Tower again," she said after a moment. "I told that dwarf girl I'd ask the First Enchanter if she could study there." Alistair gave her a confused look, and she shook her head before leaning against him. "I'll catch you up later." Her hand found his, and she twined her fingers through his. "I missed you, Alistair," she said quietly, so no one else would hear. 

"And I you, my dear," he responded. "Find anything interesting down there?"

"Actually, yes," she said with a laugh. "We found out Shale was actually a dwarf before she volunteered to become a golem."

"Wait, Shale's a she?" he asked, sounding surprised.

"Yep," Elyssa confirmed. "Don't get too into it though, okay? I think she's still overwhelmed by the memories that came back when we were down in Cadash Thaig." 

"I think I'm just more confused," he admitted. "I'll just say I'm glad you're back and leave it there, alright?"

"Actually, there's more," she admitted, the grin falling from her face. "I saw the archdemon. And I know where darkspawn really come from. Why there's always more." He looked at her, head tilted to one side. "They're called Broodmothers. The darkspawn… take the women. Something in the corruption changes them, and they become a… like a nesting spider, I guess." She shuddered at the memory of the creature. "Do you know anything about them?"

"I think I'd remember something like that," he said with a raised eyebrow. "But I'm pretty sure there were no reports about it before." Elyssa nodded. 

The next morning, they set out for the Circle, stopping at The Spoiled Princess, the tavern on Lake Calenhad's docks to let Oghren meet a dwarf woman named Felsi. Their reunion didn't go very well. He went back to camp while the rest of them made their way to the tower, to ask the First Enchanter about letting Dagna study. The first night on their way back to Orzammar, Elyssa was hit with another nightmare involving the archdemon. 

She woke with a start, having stared right into the eyes of the corrupted dragon. Her heart was racing, and she felt as if she'd really been staring it down. 

"You're awake. Did you feel it too?" Alistair asked, looking at her from across the fire. "It was like the archdemon saw us. Saw us! What does that mean?"

"Maybe… maybe it-" she began, before the buzz in the back of her mind started up again. The one that always warned her about approaching darkspawn.

"I think… wait, did you hear that?" he asked, getting to his feet. She did the same, but before she could respond the camp was surrounded. Shrieks appeared out of nowhere, as was their habit. The noise woke up everyone else, and the darkspawn were quickly dispatched. 

"I guess it's like Duncan once said: we can sense them, and they can sense us," Alistair said after the darkspawn were dead. "We'd best be more careful from now on. This camp isn't safe any longer." Elyssa nodded. It was a reminder of just how far the Blight had progressed, especially during the time she'd spent underground. 

"I had another dream about the archdemon," she told him once everyone had dispersed. 

"Yes, me too," he said seriously. "And I got the feeling that at the end, there, that it saw us. Was aware of us. Whatever you want to call it. It could have just been my imagination, I suppose. What do you think?"

"I think we need to be extra careful," Elyssa responded after a moment, worried. There wasn't much time left before the Blight consumed Ferelden, and then spread out to the rest of Thedas. 

"I thought we were already being extra careful," he said with a hint of his usual humor. "Does that mean we have to be extra, extra careful now? Great. And there I was, enjoying my nap. I guess one thing is certain, at least, isn't it? It's official. This is a Blight." Elyssa nodded, then looked away. They had taken too long in Orzammar, the Blight had spread more while she was in the Deep Roads and Alistair was waiting for her on the surface. "Hey, don't make that face," he said to her, his voice gentle. "We will win this. It'll just take a little more time, that's all." She looked up at him and managed a small smile before she fell into his embrace. 

"I know. I just… I feel like I spent too long in Orzammar, with all the political nonsense that was going on," she admitted. "And when I saw the archdemon, it was terrifying." He hugged her close. "I don’t know if I can get back to sleep after that."

"It's my turn to take watch anyway," Alistair told her. "Join me?" She nodded.

They returned to Orzammar to bring word to Dagna, and then made for Soldier's Peak. It was on the way, as she wanted to stop in Denerim for something else anyway. 

"And here we are. Soldier's Peak." Levi Dryden had been leading them through the tunnels to the peak. "I told you the map would get us through the tunnels."

"Just admit it, you were lost a couple times," Elyssa said with a raised eyebrow, the small smirk on her face taking the bite out of her words. 

"I wasn't lost--it's just that the map got soggy," Levi insisted. "Bah, we're here. So… I'll follow you about. From a distance." That was probably the safest bet. "This place has the stench of death. I expect there's trouble up ahead." Elyssa nodded. There was something here that didn't feel quite right. It almost felt like the tower had the first time. 

They crossed through the gate, and a vision greeted them. 

"Fall back! Fall back I said!" a black-haired man said to the troops around them. 

"Taking the Peak will not be easy, milord," one of the soldiers said.

"I gave the Wardens once chance to die with honor," the leader said. "Instead, they hole up like cowards. We follow the king's advice, then. Starve them out."

"But the Peak has months of supplies!" the soldier protested. 

"Then we wait," the commander said. "When they are too weak to lift their weapons, we will send them to their final judgment." The vision faded.

"Wha-what was that?" Levi asked. "I felt a bit woozy there… I'm not mad, am I? You saw it too?"

"I've heard an Orlesian ballad about something like this," Leliana said, confirming that the others had seen the vision too. "A beauty trapped in a dream. In the song, Bellissa never wakes up."

"Your pretty friend here is making me nervous, Warden," he responded hesitantly. "How is this even possible? The place must truly be haunted."

Elyssa shook her head. "The Veil is thin here. The Circle tower was this way too," she said after a moment.

"The Veil?"

"Don't worry about it," she said quickly. "Let's move on." No reason to scare him with talk of spirits and demons when she didn't even fully understand it. 

"Yes, Warden," he responded, allowing her to go first. They cleared out the undead before heading inside, where they were met with another Fade-vision. The Warden-Commander was giving a speech to her Wardens, to inspire them to fight against a man named Arland. 

"So brave, even when starving," Levi said after the memory faded. "And my great-great-grandmother stood with them."

"King Arland was a tyrant?" Elyssa asked. That hadn't been included in her lessons. 

"Not much is known of King Arland," Levi admitted. "The war of succession that followed his death, now that was a piece of work. Lasted nearly a decade, and almost burned Denerim and the palace to the ground. Loads of history was lost. But maybe there's answers to that inside." Elyssa nodded. It was time to explore the Peak. 

In the very first room, an Arcane Horror summoned a pair of Rage demons. Skeletons were all over, of course. In what appeared to be the barracks, Elyssa sighed and shook her head. 

"Something wrong?" Alistair asked. 

"It's too much like what happened in Redcliffe," she admitted. "Demons and undead, it's unnerving."

"I thought I was the only one who noticed," he said in his usual half-sarcastic tone. "Let's get these demons cleared out, then we can find out what caused this."

"I was thinking the same thing," she told him. 

In the library, a burned book triggered another memory. 

"The door won't hold, Archivist," said a mage girl.

"Almost done…" the archivist muttered. "The truth must be told."

"What does it matter?" the girl asked. "We're dead." 

"Our grand rebellion, so close… and to die here, a stillbirth," the Archivist complained softly.

"We never should've done it," the girl said, sounding scared. "Wardens aren't supposed to oppose kinds and princes."

"Should we sit idly by while--" The memory faded.

"Another one… Rebellion? What's this about a rebellion?" Levi asked. Elyssa was curious too. "If only the books weren't burned."

"Maybe there are other records," she suggested."

"We can only hope," he conceded. 

The second floor only held more Fade memories. The mage called Avernus summoned demons to try to fight the king's men, only to have the demons turn on the Wardens instead. That explained the odd haze in the room, but not the purple mirror in the corner. Levi expressed his surprise, and mild despair, at the demon-summoning, and they moved on to the next floor. With, of course, more shamblers. Until they entered the room off to the side.

"Step no further, Warden. This one would speak with you." The person turned around, and it was clear that this had been the body of Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden, but it was her no longer. Part of her desired to just attack. Obviously this was a possessed corpse. 

"Why should I speak with you?" she asked instead. 

"Because this Peak is mine," the demon said. "This one is the Dryden. Commander. Sophia. All these things."

"G-grandmother?" Levi asked, sounding surprised. 

"You have slain many of the demon ilk to get here," the demon said. "This one would propose a deal."

Elyssa shook her head. "I've heard enough. Die, demon," she said, drawing her blade. A few skeletons were summoned, perhaps to try evening the odds, but Elyssa's group still won. They crossed the walkway to the tower, unsure of what they would find. If Sophia Dryden was possessed and still alive after a few hundred years, who knew what was going on in the tower. In the first room, there was some sort of research journal, by the mage Avernus.

"Day 32, the subject is not responding to the stimuli," Elyssa read aloud. "Testing the pain threshold has uncovered nothing. Only three subjects are left."

"What are you reading?" Leliana asked.

"Looks like research notes of some kind," Elyssa replied. "Day 82. If only I could reproduce last night's extraordinary success. Electricity is only a catalyst. The blood is the key."

"Blood?" Alistair wondered, trying to read over her shoulder. She elbowed him in the stomach just hard enough to get him to back off. "Sorry, sorry." Leliana giggled from where she was, and Morrigan scoffed. 

"Day 97," she continued. "Energy and blood. Repeated applications have duplicated the results. I conjecture that success can be induced alchemically. But there are no more subjects left. If only I had one more, or a dozen. The things I could do." She fell silent, stunned. 

"He was performing tests on other people?" Leliana guessed. Elyssa put the book down and looked at what was on the table, reaching for the book next to the vial. She began reading it silently.

"Alistair, take a look at this," she said after a moment. He stood next to her and read the entry she'd found. 

"Is this what those other notes were about?" he asked, looking down at her as she focused on the note.

"If this is what he was testing, I feel even more sorry for his so called test subjects," she said darkly. "Nobody should be forced into this life if they have a better alternative." She balled up the note in her fist and stuffed it into her pack. The vial, she reasoned, was the result of his research. Instead of drinking it, she broke it open and spilled its contents, rendering the concoction useless. Then they went up the stairs to the top room of the tower.

"I hear you. Don't disrupt my concentration." They quietly approached the raised platform on the far side of the room, and after a moment the mage turned and descended the steps to meet them. "Even now the demons seek to replenish their numbers. Are you to thank for this welcome but temporary imbalance?"

"The old Warden mage? You're still alive?" Elyssa asked, surprised.

"Only just," he admitted. "I have only a short time left."

"Careful," Leliana said softly. "This… man has dabbled in matters forbidden by the Maker. He may look frail, but don't trust him."

"So the Maker told you that, did he?" Avernus countered. "Short-sighted men have forbidden my research, not any god. Enough. Why are you here? What is your intent?"

"I'm here to recover the Grey Wardens' base," Elyssa said simply.

"An admirable goal," Avernus told her. "But in order to achieve this, the demons must be cut off forever. "

"Soldier's Peak must be rid of its plague of demons," she agreed.

"This must be the first priority," Avernus said with a nod. "The only priority."

"I want some answers first."

"To what questions, I wonder? Ask."

"Tell me about what happened here," Elyssa requested.

"What use would storytelling serve?" the mage countered. "The tyrant Arland is long dead. As is all our noble co-conspirators and the grand rebellion. Sophia's corpse may walk and talk, but she, too, is no more." 

"How was Arland a tyrant?"

"He ruled with fear and poison," he explained. "His treachery pit noble against noble in terrible battle." That sounded like what was happening right now. The similarities between then and now were not lost on the junior Ferelden Warden. "We thought him a monster. We gathered allies to rebel. But the toll of years has erased our failure, hasn't it? It seemed so pressing then, but the kingdom lives on." 

"You had to know that summoning so many demons was foolhardy," Elyssa said, crossing her arms. She'd heard plenty of magic and its dangers from both Morrigan and Wynne. 

"Perhaps," he agreed. "But it was survival. For months, I prepared the summoning circles, researched the darkest depths of the Fade. That moment was a triumph of demonic lore. Dozens of demons called by my hand. But with so many variables, I suppose calculation errors were inevitable. I was so close…" He sounded like all he regretted was that his demons turned against the Wardens.

"Commander Dryden knew of the demons, then?" she asked.

"She gave the order," he confirmed. "I would have summoned the demons anyway. Only under Wardens can true magical research continue. A chance to rediscover the secrets of ancient Tevinter."

"You do remember how that ended, right? The Black City? Darkspawn?"

"Chantry lies told to subjugate the mages," he said dismissively. "To keep them docile." 

_Or to keep mages like you from abusing your magic, as you have,_ Elyssa guessed. Instead, she said aloud, "How do you know the Chantry is wrong?"

"And how do you know they are right?" Avernus challenged. "Their faith would have you swallow a great deal for small comfort."

Elyssa shook her head. This was why people feared magic. Mages like him who used their magic to test things that should never have been done. "Sophia's great-grandson brought me here," she said, changing the topic. "Levi, go ahead." 

"Master mage, uh, ser," Levi stuttered. "My family name has been worth less than dirt for over a century. Do you have any proof that Sophia was a hero?"

"The boy who braved the mists. So you heeded my call." Avernus laughed. "And you are a Dryden? The cosmos has a sense of humor."

"Just answer his question," Elyssa snapped. She was losing her patience with this mage. 

"Your great-great-grandmother was the best of us," he began. "Brave, charismatic, fiery. Utterly devoted to the fight. But still we lost. We fought against a tyrant, you know. So full of vigor, then. So blind to consequence. But proof? There's none to be had." Elyssa saw Levi's face fall at Avernus's words. 

"I'm sorry Levi," she said gently. She knew how frustrating it could be to not have answers. 

"I… I had hoped… but thank you Warden," he said to her after a moment. 

"What was the purpose of your experiments?" she asked Avernus.

"To stop the demonic tide," he said simply. "To correct the miscalculations of the past. Blood magic comes from demons. They could counter every bit of lore I know. But the darkspawn taint. That is alien to them. And it has power."

"What power?" she asked, sounding skeptical. 

"The Wardens use it merely to sense darkspawn. A triviality." she could hear the disdain in his voice, and it bothered her. "My research has discovered so much more--hinted at even greater heights. This knowledge could not only save Solider's Peak--with it, the Wardens could grow even more powerful!"

"This is wrong," Elyssa said coldly, her eyes narrowed into a hard glare. "You're no better than the demons." This seemed to reach the old mage, and the look on his face changed slowly into one of remorse. 

"I have done what I must. But… Let me undo my greatest of mistakes. Let me cleanse this place. Then…" He paused and sighed. "Then I will accept whatever justice you feel I merit."

"The time for questions is over," she said, the edge in her voice slightly less sharp. A quick glance out of the corner of her eye told her that Levi was more than a little unnerved by her sudden change. 

"So be it," he said, resigned to his fate. "My only request: if justice or vengeance drive you, stay your hand until the demons are dealt with."

"Until the demons are dead, we are allies," she agreed.

"That will do for now." He began walking toward them, and then past, toward the doors that led back down to the walkway to the main part of the Peak. "We must go to the great hall. There I will repair the damage I caused so long ago." He paused and glanced back at them. "There will be peril. The demons will fight us every step of the way. Come."

When they got to the room with the mirror and the strange purple haze, Avernus stopped and turned to face them. "We must act quickly," he said. "The demons are clawing on the gates."

"Just do what you need to do," Elyssa said. "We'll hold the demons off."

Rage demons, shades, a pair of ash wraiths, and a Desire demon. They were all easy enough to defeat.

"it's over," Avernus said once all the summoning circles were unraveled. "The Veil is strong again. Stronger, at least." He paused, then looked back at her. He looked tired now. "I said I'd submit to judgment, and so I shall. Can I be left to experiment in peace?"

Elyssa hesitated. This man had killed people, forced the taint into them. Nobody should have to deal with that. "For your crimes, death is the only verdict," she said slowly. 

"You went too far, Avernus," Alistair chimed in. "Warden or not, blood magic is forbidden." That wasn't the reason why she had said what she did, but she kept silent. 

"So be it," the old mage said. He surrendered himself to her, and she took his life as repayment for the lives he stole with his research. 

"You've done it, Warden," Levi said, sounding slightly awestruck. "Soldier's Peak is safe again. A good thing you took care of that Avernus. A blood mage! In the Wardens. Common folk should never hear of that. Some still distrust the Wardens, even in a Blight. Crazy buggers." He sighed, sounding a little frustrated. "But there was no proof to redeem my family."

"The past won't offer redemption," Elyssa told him. "Try the future instead." A small half-grin crept onto her face, though her eyes didn't have that sparkle they got when she was truly happy. 

"For so long, I was focused on the past. On answers. But I think I would've been better of had I stayed at home," Levi said with a humorless laugh. "Enough of that though. I find myself at a loss. You've got a whole fortress now. I suppose I should start plying my trade again."

"Soldier's Peak seems like a lonely place," she said after a moment.

"It is," he agreed. "In time, it might liven up, though. You're gathering an army, after all. A fortress may do some good with that. 

"Where will you go?" she asked him.

"I might use the Peak as a base of operations. So many bandits about, but none would dare come here. Nice place to store trade goods. You, of course, will get a sizable discount!" he added quickly. 

"Looks like we're done here," Alistair chirped in. "A demonic invasion thwarted, a Warden base safely rescued. We do good work."

"That we do, my dear," she said, nudging him with her shoulder when he got close enough.


	48. Asha'Bellanar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When I first met the witch, she appeared out of a pendant after an elf I'd just met said some weird Dalish words over it. I didn't get to meet the other one until almost ten years later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have finally finished the main story. It only took 60 chapters and over 150 hours of play because of all the time I spent in the convo log, but it's done. I might stick with a chapter per day until I get caught up.
> 
> This chapter's a little shorter compared to some of the others because I didn't really want to squish it into any other. So it's a standalone.

It was then that Elyssa realized there was still one thing she had promised to do, but hadn't done. She had promised a while ago to help Morrigan. And so she would, while they still had the chance. It was dangerous though. The darkspawn horde was spreading out from the Wilds, and that was where they needed to go. 

"Shayle, you're going to have to pay more attention than usual tonight," she said as she shouldered her shield and strapped on her sword belt. "You're the only one of us that doesn't need sleep, and there are darkspawn all over this area."

"I do not understand why it thinks this is necessary," the golem said, not surprising anyone. 

"It's something us squishy creatures of flesh do for each other, that's all," she responded dismissively. "Alistair, Wynne, Leliana, you ready?" When she got the affirmative from the three of them, they left camp and went back through the Korkari Wilds, to Flemeth's hut. One of the things Morrigan had specified was that she not be taken along. And, as they approached the hut, they saw that Flemeth was outside, as if waiting for them.

"And so you returned," the witch said, not sounding surprised in the least. "Lovely Morrigan has at last found someone willing to dance to her tune. Such enchanting music she plays, wouldn't you say?"

"We know your secret, Flemeth," she said, her tone guarded and arms crossed. That just made the old woman laugh.

"Which one, I wonder? What has Morrigan told you, hmm? What little plan has she hatched this time?" she asked.

"She knows how you extend your unnatural lifespan.

"That she does. The question is, do you? Ahh, but it is an old, old story. One that Flemeth has heard before… and even told. Let us skip right to the ending, shall we? Do you slay the old wretch as Morrigan bids, or does the tale take a different turn?"

Her best option, Elyssa decided, was to tell a half-truth. "I need Morrigan," she said. "I have no choice in this."

"Choice. There is power in choices, as there is in lies. I shall give you one of each," the witch promised. "Morrigan wishes my grimoire? Take it as a trophy. Tell her I am slain."

"You really think she'll believe that?"

"We believe what we want to believe," Flemeth said cryptically. "It's all we ever do."

Bring back the grimoire and tell Morrigan that Flemeth is dead, only to run the risk of her finding out later? "No. Forget it." It wasn't worth risking Morrigan's ire. 

"Shame. What will it be then?"

"Now you die," Elyssa said simply. 

"It is a dance poor Flemeth knows well. Let us see if she remembers the steps." What was with her habit of talking about herself like that? "Come. She will earn what she takes. I'd have it no other way." She walked over to a raised spot of land and then proceeded to turn into a dragon. 

"Shit," Elyssa muttered with a click of her tongue. That just made this a lot harder. Or so she'd thought. It hadn't actually been too difficult, which in itself should have been enough to bother her. Elyssa took the key off Flemeth's body and used it to get into the hut. Why a hut in the middle of the Wilds needed a key was beyond her, but inside was the grimoire that Morrigan wanted.

"Ahh, Mother's real grimoire, is it?" the apostate asked when Elyssa's group returned to camp. "I'm glad you were able to find it after all. My thanks for retrieving it. I shall begin studying it immediately and unlock the power that it holds!" 

That night, on the first guard shift, Shayle approached Elyssa.

"I have watched a lot of humans in my time," the golem began. "It should be aware that I have decided that it is… not much like any of them."

"That could be good or bad," she responded, putting another log on the fire. 

"Good, of course," Shayle insisted. "It doesn't **want** to have anything in common with all those other filthy, substandard human types, does it? Surely it must come from some superior lineage, yes? Some breed of flesh creature that has decided to elevate its genetic stock above its natural shortcomings?"

"Well, my father was Teyrn of Highever," she said after a moment. 

"Oh? Then that must be it. I knew there had to be some reason, it being a human and all." Elyssa rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face. She didn't even care about how weird it was for a golem to talk about humans the way humans would talk about livestock, or Fereldens about their mabari. "I would appreciate if it didn't spread around that I said anything. Humans might start to get the wrong idea. They might start thinking their race is not completely hopeless. 

"We wouldn't want that," she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Can it imagine the horror?" Shale said with a mock shudder. "Now, let us crush something into a fine paste before it starts to think I have gone all soft." 

A few days later, Morrigan slowed her pace to match Elyssa's. 

"Did you need to speak with me Morrigan?"

"Tis a curious thing, I do not know how to describe it," she said after a moment.

"You look confused," Elyssa observed. 

"Indeed I am, a little," Morrigan admitted. "I am reminded of our first meeting in the Wilds. I had been in animal form for some time, watching your progress. I was intrigued to see such a formidable woman, obviously more potent than the men she traveled with. Yet I resented it when Flemeth assigned me to travel with you. I assumed that, at best, you would drive me from your company as soon as we left the Wilds."

"Why would I do that?" Elyssa asked, raising an eyebrow. Sure, they hadn't gotten along all that great at first, but she'd been so focused on the goal that she hadn't worried about that much. 

"I am aware that I have… little talent for forming friendships," the mage said hesitantly. "To put it lightly. Tis something I know nothing of, nor ever thought I needed. Yet when I discovered Flemeth's plans, you did not abandon me. Whatever your reasons, you fought what must have been a terrible battle without hope of real reward."

"Well, we're friends aren't we?" she asked, offering a small smile. 

"And that is what I do not understand. Of all the things I could have imagined would have resulted when Flemeth told me to go with you, the very last would have been that I would find in you a friend. Perhaps even a sister." Morrigan hesitated, a mildly sad look suddenly coming across her face. "I want you to know that while I may not always prove… worthy… of your friendship, I will always value it." 

"Part of being friends is being there for the other person when things go wrong," Elyssa said gently.

"Enough of such talk," Morrigan said suddenly. "There are more useful things to be done, surely."

The next morning, they were breaking camp after breakfast and Morrigan caught her again.

"Do you realize that you have been smiling for hours now?"

"Have I?" Elyssa asked, blinking in surprise. She hadn't realized it. 

"Since the last time you and that fool Alistair shot glances at each other, in fact," the other woman confirmed. "He must be pleasant enough in bed, for surely I cannot imagine anyone enduring his conversation."

"He's an idiot, but he's my idiot," she responded simply. 

"Lucky for him that someone is willing to claim him, then," Morrigan said with a soft laugh. "Tis a bit sickening to watch you two, but I imagine it at least takes your mind away from our… situation. Have it your way." Elyssa simply smiled again and continued packing her things. She spent some time that day talking to Oghren as they traveled. It was no surprise to find out that one of his favorite parts of being on the surface was the ale. 

A few days later, they found themselves on the outskirts of the Brecillian Forest, searching for the Dalish.


	49. Of Werewolves and Elves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Werewolves, darkspawn, and now magic trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter, Nature of the Beast, is the longest I've written so far.

It wasn't all that hard to find the camp, truthfully. There were a few Dalish guards just standing on a path. It made Elyssa wonder just what had happened. Weren't they supposed to be harder to find?

"Stop right there outsider," said one of the three guards. "The Dalish have camped in this spot. I suggest you go elsewhere, and quickly." Obviously she'd have to watch her words here. Maybe she should've brought Wynne instead of Morrigan. 

"Actually, I've been looking for the Dalish," she said.

"I find that hard to believe. What business could we Dalish possibly have with a group like yours?" Well, the group she'd brought along today was entirely human. She figured that would be better than bringing someone like Oghren, who was likely to piss off an elf by flirting with her wrong, or Zevran who had his own issues. Maybe it was the fact that it was a group of four humans that bothered the elf woman.

"I am a Grey Warden," Elyssa said formally. "I wish to speak with your leader."

"A Grey Warden? How do I know you're telling the truth?" Why did so many not believe her when she mentioned being a Warden?

"Many people go about pretending to be Wardens, do they?" she challenged, pointing out the rather silly point of the elf's argument.

"No, that's true," she gave in. "Perhaps I shall let the keeper decide for himself. In the camp, I suggest you keep your hands to yourself and remember that our arrows are still trained on you. Follow me." Suspicious bunch, these elves. The four followed the elf girl into camp, Elyssa aware of the looks they were receiving. She led them to a bald elf mage who didn't look overly pleased to see them.

"I see we have guests," he said as they approached. "Who are these strangers, Mithra? I have precious little patience and less time to spend on outsiders today."

"This one claims to be a Grey Warden and wishes to speak with the clan," the other elf, Mithra, said to him. "I thought it best to leave the decision to you."

"That was wise of you. Ma serannas, Mithra. You may return to her post," he told her.

"Ma nuvenin, Keeper," Mithra responded, returning to her place by the other two guards, and the bald elf turned to face Elyssa.

"Now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Zathrian, the keeper of this clan, its guide and preserver of our ancient lore." Well, at least she knew what a Keeper was supposed to do. "And you are?"

"My name is Elyssa," she told him. "A pleasure to meet you. This is Alistair, the other Ferelden Grey Warden. And Leliana, and Morrigan," she said, deciding to introduce her companions as well. 

"Manners? From a shemlen? Interesting." Now that, Elyssa felt, was just rude. "What might be your mission here? Have you come to spread news of the Blight?" That caught her by surprise. So far, only the dwarves in the Legion of the Dead had believed her right away when the Blight had been mentioned. "I had already sensed the corruption spreading in the south. The existence of the Blight is not news to me. I would have taken the clan north by now, had we the ability to move. Sadly, as you can see, we do not."

"Yes, it seems like you have had your own troubles. What are the odds?" Alistair said unhelpfully. Elyssa reached up and poked his neck, one of the only places left exposed by his armor. "Hey!" he whined. She raised an eyebrow and put one hand on her hip. "Sorry," he muttered. 

"I imagine you are here regarding the treaty we signed centuries ago," he continued. "Unfortunately, we may not be able to live up to the promise we made." Elyssa's confusion must have shown on her face. "This will require some… explanations. Please follow me." He led them to a nearby part of the camp, where some of the clan's warriors were laid on cots in varying stages of consciousness. Some writhed in pain, while others appeared to sleep.

"The clan came to the Brecillian Forest one month ago, as is our custom when we enter this part of Ferelden," Zathrian began. "We are always wary of the dangers in the forest, but we did not expect the werewolves would be lying in wait for us. They… ambushed us, and though we drove the beasts back, much damage was done. Many of our warriors lie dying as we speak." 

"There are actual werewolves in the forest?" Elyssa asked, sounding surprised.

"There was a time in Ferelden's history when werebeasts roamed the lands in great numbers," he continued. "Spirits possessed animals and turned them into horrific monsters. The humans warred against and destroyed these creatures. No doubt their tales of those days grow ever more inaccurate."

"Flemeth tells tales of such a time," Morrigan informed them. "Packs of possessed wolves, akin to abominations, roaming the land. It was a terrible age now long past."

"The werebeasts are not all gone from this land, and the ones that stalk the Brecillian Forest are prof of this," Zathrian finished.

"Is there no way to help your men?"

"The affliction is a curse that runs rampant in their blood, bringing great agony and then ultimately either death or a transformation into something monstrous," he told them. "The only thing that could help them must come from the source of the curse itself, and that… that would be no trivial task to retrieve."

"You're talking about a werewolf, right?" she asked, sounding mildly confused. 

"No," he corrected. "But it is the one who made these werewolves come to be." He led them back away from the healer station and toward his landship. Elyssa had heard them called landships, but she'd never heard the official name. "Within the Brecillian Forest dwells a great wolf--we call him Witherfang. It was within him that the curse originated, and through his blood that it has been spread. If he is killed and his heart brought to me, perhaps I could destroy the curse, but this task has proven too dangerous for us." He paused and glanced back at the healer station. "I sent some hunters into the forest a week ago, but they have not returned. I cannot risk any more of my clan."

"I'll find this Witherfang for you," Elyssa offered.

"I must warn you that more than werewolves lurk in the Brecillian Forest," he said after a moment. "It has a history full of carnage and murder, you see. Where there is so much death, the Veil separating the spirit realm from our own becomes thin, allowing spirits to possess things living or dead. But if you can indeed help… then I wish you luck."

"I should go," she said.

"And I must return to caring for my people," Zathrian responded. "Creators' speed on your way." 

Elyssa first stopped by the craft master's, drawn to him by his scolding voice. She struck an agreement with him to find something called Ironbark for him to use. Then she was drawn to one of the fires where one of the elves was telling a story to the children. He invited them to listen, and attempted to call Elyssa on her opinion of it. But she recognized the story. The Exalted March of the Dales. And she wasn't willing to risk the anger of the elves. With the story done, he told them of the forest, warning them that the forest was alive. Whether it was the forest itself or the fact that the Veil was thin here too, Elyssa didn't particularly care. 

The Veil was thin here too. Because of course it was. 

"I thought I joined the Grey Wardens to fight darkspawn, not demons," she muttered to Alistair as they left the camp and went toward the forest. Leliana echoed her confusion at the clan being so easy to find, and then they were off into the forest. 

It wasn't long before the first batch of werewolves found them. But they weren't attacked just by werewolves. There were regular wolves, and Blight Wolves as well. 

At one spot, a small island in the river with three bridges leading from it, they were met by three of the werewolves. None of whom took an aggressive stance. The one in front made a strange sound somewhere between a snort and a growl, a sound Elyssa realized she'd heard from Kenai when he was tracking something by scent. 

"The watch-wolves have spoken truly, my brothers and sisters," the first werewolf began to speak. He spoke slowly, as if struggling to form the sounds. Elyssa was surprised he could speak. Zathrian hadn't mentioned this. "The Dalish send a human, of all things, to repay us for our attack, to put us in our place. What bitter irony." What was he talking about? 

"You speak? I thought werewolves were savage beasts," she said after a moment.

"We are beasts, but we are no longer simple and mindless," the werewolf said. "Let that chill your spine." It actually did. If these weren't mindless beasts, there might be more going on than Zathrian had told them. "You speak to Swiftrunner. I lead my cursed brothers and sisters." He did that strange growl-snort again. "Turn back now, go back to the Dalish and tell them that you have failed. Tell them we will gladly watch them suffer the same curse we have suffered for too long. We will watch them pay!"

"You sound as if you hate the Dalish a great deal," Elyssa responded carefully. Obviously she needed to watch her words here as carefully as she did with the elves in the camp.

"That we do. How dare they send you here against us!" Swiftrunner growled. "Turn and leave, while you still have the chance!"

"I would prefer to talk to you," she admitted after a moment. "I mean you no harm."

"Was it not Zathrian who sent you?" Again with the growling snort sound. "He wishes only our destruction, never to talk!"

"Tell me more about this curse of yours," she requested, still treading carefully with her words.

"You know nothing, do you?" Swiftrunner asked. "Nothing of us and even less of those you serve. You are a fool, and we are done talking. Run from the forest while you can. Run to the Dalish and tell them they are doomed."

"I don't want to fight, but neither can I retreat," she finally told him.

"I do not wish to fight you either, but we cannot trust you." From what little she could see, he actually sounded genuine about not wanting to fight her. It seemed like there really was something more going on here. "Come, brothers and sisters, let us retreat. The forest has eyes of its own, and it will deal with intruders as it always has." They left in the same direction they'd come from, and Swiftrunner's words had given Elyssa a lot to think about.

"There's more going on here than Zathrian told us," she said after a moment. "And the only way we're getting these answers is to follow them further in." 

"Let's keep moving then," Leliana suggested. Elyssa nodded and led the others through the forest again. And, of course, along with the werewolves, they wandered into a group of darkspawn. Even weirder than both of those, though, was the tree that attacked them as they made their way through the first part of the forest and into the second. 

"Trees?" Alistair asked when it was defeated. "We're fighting trees now?"

"I don't get it either," Elyssa admitted.

"Sylvans," Morrigan said helpfully. "You heard the storyteller, did you not? He did mention the battles this forest has seen, and the natural thinning of the Veil. A Sylvan is a tree that has become possessed."

"Is there anything a spirit won't possess?" Elyssa wondered. 

"I have never witnessed a demon possess Mother's cooking," the mage responded. Elyssa chuckled. She hadn't expected Morrigan to attempt a joke. The mood became serious again when they happened across a werewolf who again spoke to them, instead of attacking outright. This werewolf called herself Danyla, and Elyssa agreed to take her scarf to her husband, one of the Dalish elves named Athras. After the agreement was struck, Danyla pleaded with them to end her pain, and Elyssa agreed to that as well. Then the group continued on. Other elves would end up like Danyla if they didn't complete their mission.


	50. Nature of the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just be glad she did what she did, alright? Otherwise there'd be werewolves wandering around Thedas right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you once and I will warn you again, this one is long. XD

The deeper part of the Brecillian Forest was a bit of a maze, with a spot that the forest itself seemed to be protecting. They had tried going up the path, only to be turned around and returned to the start. 

"I'll bet that's where the werewolves are," Elyssa reasoned.

They found what seemed like an abandoned camp, and Elyssa spotted something inside a stump. She reached inside and grabbed whatever it was, only to be stabbed by something when she tried to pull her hand back out. An old man just appeared and started calling her a robber, then summoned a rage demon. 

"You know, everything's going to seem a little boring after the Blight's over," she commented to Alistair. She glanced down at the thing she'd pulled from the stump, and was confused. An acorn? 

"I don't think any Wardens anywhere else had adventures quite like this," he agreed. 

"Here, let me bandage your hand," Leliana said after a moment. Elyssa hadn't even noticed that it was bleeding. She put the acorn in her coin pouch and offered her injured hand to the bard. 

One of the trees, instead of attacking at their approach, began to speak instead.

"What manner of beast be thee that comes before this elder tree?" it asked.

"You speak? How?" Elyssa asked, confused and a little surprised.

"How do I speak? The same as you. I form the words and sound them true. Now I have answered a query of thine, but thou hast yet to answer mine." Great. A rhyming tree. The only tree in the forest that talks, and it speaks in rhymes. 

"Can't you see me? I am human," she responded. 

"Ahhhh, yes, I remember thy kind. So brief of life and all but blind to the peril you cause, the lives you take, such chaos is sown within thy wake," the tree responded thoughtfully. "Allow me a moment to welcome thee. I am called the Grand Oak, sometimes the Elder Tree."

"It… rhymes? Tis a rhyming tree," Morrigan observed, sounding mildly amused under her surprise. "One can only imagine what manner of spirit is involved here."

"And unless though thinkst it far too soon, might I ask of thee a boon?"

"What… are you exactly?" Elyssa asked, curious.

"I am an elder oak and nothing more, though once I dreamt of a time before, when I roamed the world and howled with pain, not of this world but twixt and twain." Well, that was not helpful at all. "Perhaps I was a spirit then? A wandering thing drawn to this glen? But then that spirit joined with a tree; since then, a tree is all I be."

"It just seems that the other trees are far more hostile." There was something she'd never thought she'd say.

"Of the sylvans, this is true: they are quite mad, their virtues few," the Grand Oak confirmed. "A spirit trapped with a tree, no mouth to scream or eyes to see. A cage of bark, a prison wood, a thing of rage where nature stood. So, twisted sylvan they become, but I am not the same as some. I accept my fated oaken home, I feel no need to rage and roam."

"So, why do you speak in rhymes?" she wanted to know.

"I do not know. Why dost thou not?" the tree countered. "Thy words seem plain, a mundane lot. Perhaps a poet's soul's in me… Does that make me a poet tree?" It was such a bad pun that Elyssa couldn't help the wry smile that crept onto her face. Morrigan, on the other hand, groaned softly. 

"A poet tree, yes, I get it," Elyssa said quickly, in a attempt to keep the peace between her companions and the tree. 

"It was but a simple jest, a jibe to entertain my guest."

"What was the boon you mentioned?"

"I have but one desire, to solve a matter very dire: as I slept one early morn, a thief did come and steal an acorn." Now Elyssa wished she hadn't had to kill the mage. She'd have liked to know why he stole the acorn, if only to make sense of what was going on in the forest.

"Is this the acorn you're talking about?" she asked, pulling it out of her coin pouch. 

"My joy soars to new heights indeed! I am reunited with my seed! This cannot pass without reward; I shall give what little I can afford. Keep this branch of mine with thee, and pass throughout the forest free." She took the offered branch. "I wish thee well, my mortal friend. Thou brought my sadness to an end. May the sunlight find you, thy days be long, thy winters kind, and thy roots be strong." The tree stopped moving after saying that, and Elyssa shrugged.

"Guess that means this can get us through that mist," she offered, looking again at the branch. "Let's go back to the blocked path and see where it leads." The branch did, in fact, allow them to pass through the barrier. It turned out, Elyssa was right. The werewolves were hiding behind it. 

Swiftrunner was waiting for them on the other side. "The forest has not been vigilant enough," he said as they approached. "Still you come. You are stronger than we could have anticipated. The Dalish chose well. But you do not belong here, outsider. Leave this place!"

"Why won't you let me try to settle this?" Elyssa asked. 

"You are sent by the treacherous Dalish to kill Witherfang! I will not stand by and allow that to happen!"

"Why? What is Witherfang to you, exactly? Is he your leader?" Obviously there was much she still needed to figure out before everything made sense. 

"You know nothing about him. And I am not about to enlighten you." Wonderful. "You are an intruder in our home. You have come to kill, as all your kind do! We have learned this lesson well." And, just like that, they were involved in another fight. It wasn't long before they had Swiftrunner on the defensive, and just before Elyssa struck she was attacked out of nowhere by a wolf with pure white fur. She was pushed back and fell, hard. The wolf howled and followed Swiftrunner somewhere.

"Are you alright?" Alistair asked, helping her to her feet.

"I'm alright," she said with a nod. "I think… that was Witherfang," she said after a moment. "C'mon, let's go further in."

"We are invaded!" another werewolf said as they approached the ruins. "Intruders have deceived their way into the forest's heart! Fall back to the ruins! Protect the Lady!" He howled, and then ran into the ruins himself. 

"Just what was that about?" Leliana asked.

"I think we're about to find out for ourselves," Elyssa answered, leading the way into the ruins. It didn't take long to find the tunnel leading to the lower levels. However, once down there they were reminded once again of how annoying giant spiders, and their webs, were. She wasn't the only one pulling webbing from her hair this time. 

Eventually, the group came across a room with a simple stone altar and what appeared to be some sort of phylactery, according to Leliana and Morrigan's guesses. When she touched the gem, a soft gasp escaped her lips as memories that weren't hers flowed through her mined. Then the Presence inside seemed to recoil in fear, and a sense of loneliness flooded her mind.

"I'm sorry…" she said aloud. "I didn't meant to frighten you."

The Presence calmed, and then seemed to be begging her to stay. It shared more images with her. Time that it had spent trapped inside its prison, the Life Gem. Time when it had slept, gone mad, and slept again. It gave no name, though it tried to remember. Instead, it presented the images of an elf, a mage in glittering silver armor. But Elyssa could tell that these were memories from a time long past.

"What is this place?" she asked it. "What happened here?" She didn't realize she was speaking out loud, her words barely above a whisper, just loud enough for her companions to hear.

The next memories were slow to come, as if from so long ago the Presence barely remembered them at all. She was showed a place of serenity, and told through the images that this was a place where the Eldest came to slumber, and were visited by those who came to offer tributes of some sort. Then, flashes of violence, a war of some kind. But none of the battle is clear.

"Was this war with the humans?" she asked softly. The war between humans and elves, that she knew. It was the time when Tevinter first attacked, first enslaved the elves. The memories that followed weren't clear, but the Presence in the Life Gem did at least know what humans were. "How did you end up in this gem?" Again, the images were of a great battle, but this time elves and humans were both shrieking and trying to flee from some unknown attacker, lost to time. According to the Presence, it had used magic to flee its body, sealing its spirit within the gem. It had expected someone to come, to rescue it, but no one had. Until now. 

"Is there anything I can do for you?" 

Instead of images, there was a strong, keening loneliness. One that Elyssa was familiar with. It was loneliness similar to what she'd felt after fleeing Highever. She was surprised by the wetness on her cheeks, reaching up with the hand that wasn't touching the gem to wipe them from her face. The Presence offered its knowledge to her, of something it called Arcane Warrior. The knowledge to teach mages, and to continue the art. It was all the Presence had left, and it asked only one thing. Oblivion.

"How would I give you this release you seek?" she asked gently. 

The next memories were uncertain. A stone altar, and a hand placing the gem upon it. She watched the gem vibrate and shatter, a true death for the life inside it. The yearning that followed the images was almost hopeless. 

"Yes, I will help you," she agreed. Desperate images followed, and she was aware that the Presence didn't know where the altar was. Luckily it seemed to be the one in the same room. Her eyes finally opened, and she picked up the gem. She approached the altar, and the Presence became overwhelmed with emotion. As if it was asking whether this was finally the end of its nightmare. More images flowed across, asking a question. Did she still wish to learn the skills of the Arcane Warrior? 

"I require nothing in return for an act of mercy," she told it, a hint of sadness in her voice. The last images it shared were ones filled with joy. She placed the Life Gem on the altar, watching a second time as the gem vibrated and shattered. 

"What was that?" Alistair asked.

"A victim of their own fear," she said cryptically. "Whoever it had been lived long ago. Waiting for someone to give it release."

"A spirit, then?" Morrigan asked, sounding curious.

"Of a sort. It was some sort of ancient spell that separated body and spirit… and left it trapped here for thousands of years."

"Oh, how awful," Leliana mourned. 

"But we still need to find Witherfang. Let's keep moving." They followed, as always. Later, she muttered something about signing up to fight darkspawn, not demons, as they took out yet more skeletons. She had left the family sword behind again. Things were getting too precarious to risk the Cousland sword. Instead, she had a blade of her own, made just for her hand. Starfang, forged by Levi's brother at Soldier's Peak.

They finally reached the lowest levels of the ruins. The werewolves' lair. 

"Stop! Brothers and sisters, be at ease!" It was the werewolf that had called the others back into the ruins. "We do not wish any more of our people hurt. I ask you this now, outsider: are you willing to parley?"

"Like you parleyed with the Dalish?" she countered.

"That was different. The Lady believes that the Dalish have not told you everything," he explained. Elyssa noticed that he spoke faster than Swiftrunner had, and his voice wasn't quite as deep. Was this one younger, then? "She has asked that you be brought to her. She means you no harm, provided your willingness to parley in peace is an honest one."

"If you were willing to talk, why didn't you earlier?"

"Swiftrunner did not think it would matter. The Lady disagrees, and since you have forced your way this far, we must acquiesce to her wishes." So, he didn't agree with this Lady of theirs?

"Then take me to this Lady," Elyssa agreed. 

"Follow me," the werewolf said. "But I warn you, if you break your promise and harm her, I will come back from the Fade itself to see you pay."

"Neither myself nor my companions will strike unless attacked first," she promised. She got no response, and the werewolf led her through another doorway and sets of tunnels to a chamber filled with werewolves and a large tree centered against one wall. The wolves growled and snapped at their group until a woman appeared next to Swiftrunner. Her skin was an odd grey color, and though she wore no clothing she didn't act as if it was a problem. The vines went from her fingers and toes up her arms and legs, ending at her shoulders and hips and leaving her torso bare. Her dark hair was long enough to cover her bare chest. But it was her eyes that drew Elyssa's attention more than her nudity. Her eyes were completely black, with no whites. 

"I bid you welcome, mortal," she said, looking at Elyssa. "I am the Lady of the Forest."

"Thank you," the Warden responded. "I am glad we have this chance to talk."

"Do not listen to her, Lady! She will betray you! We must attack her now!" Swiftrunner snapped.

"Hush, Swiftrunner," the Lady said gently. "Your urge for battle has only seen the death of the very ones you have been trying to save. Is that what you want?"

"No, my lady," Swiftrunner conceded. "Anything but that."

"Then the time has come to speak with this outsider, to set our rage aside." She turned to the group of humans again. "I apologize on Swiftrunner's behalf. He struggles with his nature."

"As do we all," Elyssa admitted. 

"Truer words were never spoken, but few could claim the same as these creatures, that their very nature is a curse forced upon them." This was new. She'd heard about the elves turning into werewolves, but not that the original werewolves had been forcibly cursed. Either Zathrian hadn't known himself, or he really had been keeping things from her. "No doubt you have questions, mortal. There are things that Zathrian has not told you."

"I've gathered as much," she admitted. "But what is it that he hasn't told me?"

"It was Zathrian who created the curse that these creatures suffer," the Lady explained. "The same curse that Zathrian's own people now suffer. Centuries ago, when the Dalish first came to this land, a tribe of humans lived close to this forest. They sought to drive the Dalish away." Elyssa could guess that the end of this story was far from happy. "Zathrian was a young man then. He had a son and daughter he loved greatly, and while out hunting the human tribe captured them both."

"The humans… tortured the boy," Swiftrunner continued in the Lady's place. "Killed him. The girl they raped and left for dead. The Dalish found her, but she learned later she was… with child. She… killed herself." 

"So… Zathrian cursed them, I take it?" Elyssa said after a moment. But if this happened centuries ago, why was Zathrian still alive?

"Zathrian came to this ruin and summoned a terrible spirit," Swiftrunner continued, "binding it to the body of a great wolf. So Witherfang came to be. Witherfang hunted the humans of the tribe. Many were killed, but others were cursed by his blood, becoming twisted and savage creatures."

"Twisted and savage just as Witherfang himself is," the Lady said. "They were driven into the forest. When the human tribe finally left for good, their cursed brethren remained, pitiful and mindless animals." The era of the warring Alamarri tribes… 

"Until I found you, my lady. You gave me peace," Swiftrunner said. 

"I showed Swiftrunner that there was another side to his bestial nature," she continued. "I soothed his rage, and his humanity emerged. And he brought others to me."

"Why did you ambush the Dalish, then? For revenge?" Elyssa asked.

"In part," the Lady admitted. "We seek to end the curse. The crimes committed against Zathrian's children were grave, but they were committed centuries ago by those who are long dead. Word was sent to Zathrian every time the landships passed this way, asking him to come, but he has always ignored us. We will no longer be denied." 

"We spread the curse to his people, so he must end the curse to save them!"

"Please, mortal… you must go to him," the Lady pleaded. "Bring him here. If he sees these creatures, hears their plight… surely he will agree to end the curse."

"Why would Zathrian agree to come here alone?" she asked.

"If Zathrian comes, I shall summon Witherfang," the Lady told her. "I possess that power. I also have the power to ensure Witherfang is never found. Tell Zathrian this. If he does not come, if he does not break the curse, he will never find Witherfang, and he will never cure his people."

"Very well. I will go to Zathrian and tell him this," she agreed.

"Then we shall await your return," was the response. "Outside of this chamber, the passage leading back to the surface has been opened to you. Return with Zathrian as soon as you can." They went through the door and up the stairs, only to find Zathrian waiting in the temple's main chamber. For some reason, Elyssa wasn't surprised.

"Ah, and here you are already," he said when he saw them.

"You know, somehow I'm not surprised to find you here," she admitted.

"Aren't you the intuitive one," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "There was no way to tell what would happen once you reached the ruin, so I decided to come myself." He'd gotten through the barrier, somehow. There was more to this mage than Elyssa had previously suspected. 

"You mean you wanted to make sure I got the heart," she translated, her voice going cold. 

"Just so. Did you?"

"I'd rather talk about our deal," she said.

"So, you wish to play games?" he countered, his voice also going cold. "I can sense you do not have it. Why are you leaving the ruin."

"So you knew about the ruin. Why didn't you say anything?"

"There was no need. I knew you would find it, and I did not care to give you a history lesson about things that have no bearing on your purpose here. But it seems the spirit convinced you to act on her behalf. Might I inquire what she wants?"

"She won't summon Witherfang unless you break the curse."

"You do understand that she actually is Witherfang?" he asked her.

"Yes, I thought as much," Elyssa lied. She hadn't been entirely sure, but with how protective the werewolves were of both the Lady of the Forest and Witherfang, she knew there had to be some kind of connection. 

"She is the powerful spirit of this ancient forest that I summoned long ago and bound to the body of the wolf," Zathrian explained. "Her nature is that of the forest itself. Beautiful and terrible, serene and savage, maiden and beast. She is the Lady and Witherfang both, two sides of a single being. The curse came first from her. Those afflicted with it mirrored her own nature, becoming savage beast as well as human." Elyssa shook her head.

"The curse came first from you, Zathrian," she said to him. That much, at least, she knew for sure. 

"They attacked my clan and they were the same savages then that they have ever been," he insisted. "They deserve to be wiped out and not defended. Come. I will accompany you back to the ruin. Let us go and speak to the spirit and I will force her into Witherfang's form. He may then be slain and the heart taken."

"Won't you at least consider talking to them?" she asked.

"Why? You claim they have regained their minds, but they are still savage beasts." She'd never actually used those words. "Their nature is unchanged. All they will want is revenge… or a release I will not give them. No, let us take the heart and end it." She was actually beginning to pity him. Maybe there was a chance she'd have ended up like him, had she not had the Blight to focus on.

"Do you still have so much hatred after all this time?" she wondered sadly.

"You were not there. You did not see what… what they did to my son. To my daughter. And so many others." His eyes hardened. "You are not Dalish. How can you know how we had to struggle to be safe? How could I have let their crimes go unanswered?" 

"But it is your own people suffering now, as well as them."

"I have sworn to protect my people, and I shall," he said, a determined glint in his eyes. "I will not lift a finger to help the descendants of savages who deserved the curse they received!"

"So your answer is to let them suffer forever?" 

"Tell me, if you held your own daughter's lifeless body in your arms would you not also have sworn an eternity of pain on those who did such to her?" He didn't notice the stiffening of her stance, or the hardness in her eyes. It may not have been her own child she held, but she was also a victim of a murderer. Alistair rested a hand on her shoulder, and she glanced up at him. She took a breath before responding.

"I might have, but who is being punished now?" she asked instead. 

"Very well," Zathrian conceded. "You wish me to go and talk? I will do so. But what if it is only more revenge they wish? Will you safeguard me from harm?"

"If you do not strike first."

"I fail to see the purpose behind this… but very well. It has been many centuries, now. Let us see what this spirit has to say." She led him back down the path they'd taken to get to the main room. 

"So here you are spirit," Zathrian said to the Lady once they reached the lower chambers. 

"She is the Lady of the Forest!" Swiftrunner snapped, charging dangerously close to the elf. "You will address her properly!"

"So you've taken a name, spirit?" Zathrian asked, ignoring the werewolf. "And you've given names to your pets? These… beasts who follow you?"

"It was they who gave me a name, Zathrian," she corrected him, using the same gentle tone. "And the names they take are their own. They follow me because I help them to find who they are."

"Who they are has not changed from whom their ancestors were," he insisted. "Wild savages! Worthless dogs! Their twisted shape only mirrors their monstrous hearts!"

"He will not help us, Lady!" Swiftrunner swore. "It is as I warned you! He is not here to talk!"

"No, I am here to talk, though I see little point in it," Zathrian corrected calmly. "We all know where this will lead. Your nature compels it, as does mine."

"It does not have to be that way," the spirit said. "There is room in your heart for compassion, Zathrian. Surely your retribution is spent."

"My retribution is eternal, spirit, as is my pain," he told her. "This is justice, no more."

"Are you certain your pain is the only reason you will not end this cures? Have you told the mortal how it was created?"

"He said he summoned you and bound you to a wolf," Elyssa remembered. 

"And so he did," the spirit said. "Witherfang and I are bound as one being. But such powerful magic could not be accomplished without Zathrian's own blood. Your people believe you have rediscovered the immortality of their ancestors, Zathrian, but that is not true. So long as the curse exists, so do you."

"No, that is not how it is!" Zathrian insisted.

"Just how far will you go for your revenge, Zathrian?" Elyssa asked with a soft sigh. Yes, she too wanted revenge for what was done to her, but she wouldn't force others to pay for the snake's treachery like this. 

"I did it for my people! I did it for my son, and my daughter! For them, for justice, I would do anything!" 

"The curse would not end with Zathrian's death. His life, however, relies on its existence. And I believe his death plays a part in its ending," the Lady admitted.

"Then we kill him! We tear him apart now!" Swiftrunner demanded. 

"For all your powers of speech, you are beasts still!" Zathrian accused. "What would you gain from killing me? Only I know how the ritual ends, and I will never do it!"

"You see? We must kill them all!" Swiftrunner insisted.

"See? They turn on you as quickly," Zathrian said, attempting to turn Elyssa against the werewolves again. "Do what you have come here to do, Grey Warden, or get out of my way."

"No, Zathrian, I won't help you do this," Elyssa decided.

"We're standing for what's right, here, no matter what," Alistair agreed.

"Then you die with them! All of you will suffer as you deserve!" With that, Zathrian began attacking them. Not just with his own magic, but with a pair of Sylvans as well. 

"No, no more," Zathrian said after his sylvans were defeated. "I… I cannot… cannot defeat you."

"Finish it!" Swiftrunner demanded. "Kill him now!"

"No! Don't kill him! Please, Lady, stop him!" Leliana begged suddenly. 

"No, Swiftrunner," the Lady of the Forest said gently. "We will not kill him. If there is no room in our hearts for mercy, how may we expect there to be room in his?"

"I cannot do as you ask, spirit," Zathrian admitted softly. "I am too old… to know mercy. All I see are the faces of my children, my people. I… I cannot do it."

"Would you really let your clan die? For this?" Elyssa asked him, her voice more gentle than before. 

"Perhaps I have… lived too long," he said after a moment. "This hatred in me is like an ancient, gnarled root… It has consumed my soul." He looked up. "What of you, spirit? You are bound to the curse just as I am. Do you not fear your end?"

"You are my maker, Zathrian," she said to him. "You gave me form and consciousness where none existed. I have known pain and love, hope and fear, all the joy that is life. Yet of all things I desire nothing more than an end. I beg you, maker… put an end to me. We beg you… show mercy." 

Elyssa and her group simply watched what happened next. The werewolves gathered round the Lady and Zathrian. A surge of magic was all Elyssa felt, and then Zathrian collapsed. A few moments later, the spirit that was both Witherfang and the Lady of the Forest also departed. Then there were humans filling the room where werewolves once stood. 

"It's… over," said the human who had been Swiftrunner. "She's gone, and… we're human. I can scarcely believe it."

"So, what will you do now?" Elyssa asked.

"We'll leave the forest, I suppose. Find other humans, see what's out there for us. It should be quite interesting, don't you think? Thank you. We'll… We'll never forget you." The former werewolves all fled to the surface.

"Do they still need the heart now that the curse is lifted?" Alistair wondered.

"I don't think so," Elyssa said thoughtfully. "Zathrian ended the curse, and the werewolves turned human, so the elves should be recovering too. But we need to get back to the camp and tell them what happened."

They returned to the Dalish camp and found the elven hunters recovering. Lanaya, the new keeper, pledged their support to the Wardens. The Ironbark Elyssa had found was given to Master Varathorn in its entirety, and the scarf from the elf Danyla was returned to her husband. 

"So, what next?" Alistair asked as they walked away from the camp.

"Now, we go back to Redcliffe," Elyssa responded, a determined look on her face. "It's time to call the Landsmeet."


	51. Alarming News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, what would you do if the guy who turned your life upside down was suddenly standing in front of you?

It wasn't all that long of a trip from the Brecillian Forest back to Redcliff. The fact that little was said along the way made all of them more aware of their situation. The Blight was overrunning Ferelden, but before they could truly fight it they had to deal with the political mess of the Landsmeet. 

"I understand you have found all the allies you could," Arl Eamon said once they were settled. "Good. We can call the Landsmeet whenever you are ready. I would prefer not giving Loghain time to consider, but it is up to you. I do not wish to go to Denerim unless you are with me."

Elyssa nodded. "Call the Landsmeet, I am ready," she told him.

"Excellent. I shall make the arrangements," Eamon responded. "Let us be off to Denerim and may the Maker watch over us."

Unfortunately, they weren't able to set off until the next morning. Eamon offered Elyssa and her companions rooms for the night, which they gladly accepted. Well, all except Shale of course. And when Elyssa snuck into Alistair's room later that night, the redheaded friend who saw her was far from surprised.

"Is it bad that I'm almost dreading the Landsmeet?" she asked him, leaning against his shoulder. "I mean… I haven't seen Arl Howe since the day he attacked Highever, and I heard Loghain is supporting him now, too. I haven't seen any of these nobles since Ostagar. What if they believe Howe?"

Alistair placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "You know I'm terrified too, right?" he joked. "Eamon wants to make me king. You may have grown up among nobility, but it's entirely new to me."

"I'll be right beside you, I promise," she assured him. "I wouldn't leave you to face them alone. We're the only two Wardens in all Ferelden, we need to stick together and see this through."

"And what happens after?" he asked. "If I am made king?"

"No one can tell a king what to do," she said. "They can make suggestions, but no one can order a king around." She tilted her head back to look up at him. 

"I suppose you have a point," he admitted, pressing his lips to hers. "We should get some sleep, though. From what I hear, arguing with nobility is almost as bad as fighting darkspawn."

"Worse," Elyssa groaned. "You get executed for running a noble through." Alistair just chuckled at her. 

They left for Denerim the next morning, and by the time they arrived some of the nobles who lived closer had already shown up.

"Denerim is the heart and soul of Ferelden," Eamon told her when they arrived. "It was the city of King Calenhad, the birthplace of Andraste. As stubborn as a mabari, and as good to have on your side. If we defeat Loghain here, the rest of the nation will follow us. By calling the Landsmeet, I've struck the first blow. The advantage, for the moment, is ours. He will have little choice but to show himself, to oppose us directly."

They were gathered in the entrance hall of the former Arl's estate. The Arl Of Denerim's estate had stood empty since his death at Ostagar, so they were being allowed to stay there for the Landsmeet. It wasn't long before the double doors swung wide, and revealed a few rather unwelcome guests.

"Loghain. It is… an honor that the regent would come to greet me personally," Eamon said, covering up his surprise rather well.

"How could I not welcome a man so important as to call every lord in Ferelden away from his estates while a Blight claws at our land?" Loghain responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Elyssa's eyes, however, remained fixed on the man to Loghain's left.

"The Blight is why I am here," Eamon insisted. "With Cailan dead, Ferelden must have a king to lead it against the darkspawn."

"Ferelden has a strong leader: its Queen," Loghain countered. "And I lead her armies." 

"If Anora rules, let her speak for herself," Elyssa stepped in, careful to keep her voice even.

"And who is this, Eamon?" The fact that Loghain didn't recognize her, or was simply pretending not to, made Elyssa bristle. He'd seen her at Ostagar, and he was teyrn just as her father had been. "Some new stray you picked up on the road? And here I thought it was only royal bastards you played nursemaid to." Now that was just not fair. Elyssa's eyes narrowed dangerously. She could feel Alistair's presence behind her. 

"Well, you're admitting the royal part," Alistair muttered. "That's a start."

Elyssa took a step forward, not at all intimidated. "I am Elyssa Cousland, rightful teyrn of Highever," she announced. 

"The Couslands are dead," Arl Howe said with a scoff. "The teyrnir of Highever belongs to the Howes, and rightfully so." That made her see red. Highever didn't belong to this murderer!

"I demand blood rights!" she snarled. "This man murdered my family!"

"You have no rights," he laughed. "Your family surrendered them when I revealed them to be traitors to the king." 

"You think you can slander my family to my face?!" she demanded. 

"You are either very bold or very stupid to threaten the teyrn before witnesses," the woman to Loghain's right said suddenly. Elyssa turned her glare on her.

"Enough, Cauthrien," Loghain said calmly. "This is not the time or place." He turned to Eamon, as if the outburst between Elyssa and Howe had never happened. "I had hoped to talk you down from this rash course, Eamon. Our people are frightened. Our king is dead. Our land is under siege. We must be united now, if we are to endure this crisis. Your own sister, Queen Rowan, fought tirelessly to see Ferelden restored. Would you see her work destroyed?" 

_That's low, even for you,_ Elyssa wanted to say. 

"You divide our nation and weaken our efforts against the Blight with your selfish ambitions to the throne," the regent continued, sounding angry now. 

"What efforts can there be when you outlaw the Grey Wardens?" Elyssa interrupted. 

"Cailan depended on the Grey Warden's prowess against the darkspawn, and look how well that ended," he responded. "Let us speak of reality, rather than tall takes. Stories will not save us."

"I cannot forgive what you've done, Loghain," Eamon said, sounding a bit sad and worn out. "Perhaps the Maker can, but not I. Our people deserve a king of the Therin bloodline. Alistair will be the one to lead us to victory in this Blight."

"Oh, is that all I have to do? No pressure," Alistair said quietly. 

"The Emperor of Orlais also thought I could not bring him down," Loghain said, moving to get threateningly close to Eamon. Loghain was armed and armored, while Eamon was neither, and still Eamon did not stand down. "Expect no more mercy than I showed him. There is nothing I would not do for my homeland." With that, he turned and left, leaving Elyssa still seething.

"Well, that was… bracing," Eamon said after the doors thudded shut behind Loghain's group. "I didn't expect Loghain to show himself quite so soon." 

"Howe killed my family…" Elyssa muttered, her hands clenched into fists. "I can't let him get away with it!" The anger that she'd been able to repress during their travels bubbled over, with a vengeance. 

"I would not ask you to," Eamon said gently. "But bear in mind that he will be well protected by his alliance with Loghain." Alistair moved to Elyssa's side, gently prying the fingers of one fist open. "He always seemed like the kind of man who enjoyed kicking stray dogs. I would not have thought Loghain would trust him." He glanced down at her hand that was now joined with Alistair's, but made no comment on it. "We need eyes and ears in the city. Loghain has been here for months. The roots of all his schemes must begin here. The sooner we find them, the better we can turn them to our advantage." Elyssa nodded, her other hand finally starting to relax. "Go have a look around and see what you can turn up. Better yet, find the nobles who have arrived for the Landsmeet. Test the waters, see how many will support us."

"That much I can do," she agreed.

"When you are ready to talk strategy, come upstairs to my sitting room," he told her. "We can lay out our plans for the Landsmeet then."

"Are you alright?" Alistair asked once Eamon was gone.

"What do you think?" Elyssa said with a sigh. "I was able to mostly forget about Howe when we were traveling, but now… Now I have to see his face and I… I can't stand it!" She made to swing at the wall, but Alistair grabbed her wrist and stopped her. 

"C'mon, let's go into the city for a while," he said gently. "Maybe we can get your mind off this for a bit."

"Yeah, alright," she said after a moment. "The others will be fine here without us for a little while. Do you mind if we bring Kenai? I haven't traveled with him in a while."

"I don't think my minding would stop him if he really wanted to tag along," Alistair joked. "Maybe we can see if the city guard has any work worth doing. Let off some steam that way?" Elyssa nodded.

The Sargent directed them to a place called the Pearl, to help clear out some mercenaries. They got ambushed in one of the back allies along the way.

"And here is the Grey Warden, at long last," the man said. "The Crows send their regards, again. And where is Zevran? I don't see him with you. How very disappointing."

"So not in the mood to deal with another assassin. Can we just get this over with?" she asked with a huff. The man laughed.

"Yes, by all means," he said. "I simply wished to say hello to an old friend."

"Here I am Talisen," Zevran said, stepping out of the shadows. Elyssa still had no idea how he did that. "Tell me, were you sent? Or did you volunteer for the job?"

"Oh ho, and he makes an appearance!" the man, Talisen, said happily. "I volunteered of course. When I heard that the great Zevran had gone rogue, I simply had to see it for myself."

"Is that so?" Zevran said, sounding skeptical. "Well, here I am, in the flesh." He also didn't sound too happy about meeting this other Crow. 

"You can return with me, Zevran," Talisen told him. "I know why you did this, and I don't blame you. It's not too late. Come back and we'll make up a story. Anyone can make a mistake." 

"Of course, I'd need to be dead first," Elyssa reasoned. That was what Zevran had come to do, after all.

"And I'm not about to let that happen," Zevran insisted. A small smile crossed Elyssa's face when he said that. She had hoped their friendship was enough to keep him on her side. 

"You've gone soft!" Talisen said angrily.

"I'm sorry, my old friend, but the answer is no," Zevran responded. "I'm not coming back… and you should have stayed in Antiva." More assassins appeared, surrounding them. Kenai ran off to fetch Wynne, who arrived just in time to help finish off the last few assassins.

"And there it is," Zevran said quietly after the battle was over. "Talisen is dead… and I am free of the Crows. They will assume that I am dead along with Talisen. So long as I do not make my presence known to them, they will not seek me out."

"That's a good thing, right?" Elyssa asked him, confused by the slightly sad look on his face.

"A very good thing. It is, in fact, what I had hoped for ever since you decided not to kill me," he admitted. "I have enjoyed our company, but I am wondering if it is not time for me to leave. That would be the practical thing to do, no? There is a freedom awaiting me that I have never known. But I suppose the decision is yours. Will you let me go?"

"Don't you want to stay for the treasure?" she asked, with her usual half-grin. Getting into a fight like that, against the assassins who's been after her for months, had been quite satisfying. 

"Mmm… Alright," he agreed. "You make a convincing argument. You do seem to stumble onto treasure on a regular basis, somehow. Let us return to the task at hand, then. There is still much to be done, yes?"

The mercenaries were quickly cleared out of the Pearl. An introduction to a former friend of Zevran's, a Rivaini woman named Isabela, and they were on their way. The Sergeant met them in one of the alleys, only to witness why Elyssa and her companions had survived as long as they did against the darkspawn. After the fight, the Sergeant paid her for clearing out the Pearl and made his way back to the market district. She went back to the market only to find that there were more mercenaries making a fuss, this time in the Gnawed Noble tavern. 

In the tavern, they found a few of the nobles who had come for the landsmeet, and heard plenty of information. Arl Wulfe lost both his sons to the Blight during the West Hills evacuation. South Reach was overrun. And most of the nobles so far seemed to support Loghain. Elyssa had calmed down by then, so she decided that was as good a time as any to return to the estate. 

As she was passing the kitchen, she heard the cook exclaim, "What do you mean we're out of eggs? Don't the chickens know they're laying for an arl?" It was enough to draw a laugh from her lips, though she purposely kept it soft. 

"Ah, Warden," Eamon said when she entered the study upstairs. "I trust you've made yourself comfortable?"

"Yes, the estate is very nice," she assured him. 

"Good. Because it's likely to be your last rest for a while." She groaned inwardly. So many months of fighting with weapons and fighting with words… Would it ever end? "This is Erlina," Eamon said, introducing the elf next to him. "She's--"

"I am Queen Anora's handmaiden," Erlina interrupted. From her accent, Elyssa guessed that she was Orlesian. Her voice was similar to Leliana's. "She sent me to ask for your help."

"Or perhaps the young lady prefers to speak for herself," Eamon muttered, causing the corners of Elyssa's lips to turn up ever so slightly. 

"Why would Anora ask us for help?" Elyssa wondered. 

"The queen, she is in a difficult position," the elf began. "She loved her husband, no? And trusted her father to protect him. When he returns with no king and only dark rumors, what is she to think? She worries, no? But when she tries to speak with him, he does not answer. He tells her not to trouble herself."

"Are you saying the queen believes Loghain killed Cailan?" she asked, mildly surprised.

"My queen suspects she cannot trust her father," Erlina clarified. "And Loghain, his is very subtle, no?" Yet another speech quirk that led Elyssa to believe the elf was Orlesian. How odd, considering Loghain's stance. "But Rendon Howe, he is privy to all the secrets and… not so subtle." That was putting it mildly. "So she goes to Howe. A visit from the queen to the new arl of Denerim is only a matter of courtesy. And she demands answers."

"That's crazy," Elyssa said softly, shaking her head. "Howe is a lunatic."

"He calls her every sort of name, 'traitor' being the kindest, and locks her in a guest room!" 

"Loghain would allow that?" 

"King Cailan was like a son to him, and Loghain left him to die," the elf reminded her. "Does he love Anora more? Who can say? I think… her life is in danger. I heard Howe say she would be a greater ally dead than alive. Especially if her death could be blamed on Arl Eamon." Elyssa blanched. Alistair, who had been studying a bookcase nearby, started to watch her in case he felt like he needed to intervene. 

"Would Loghain really kill his own daughter just to frame Eamon…?" she asked hesitantly. She couldn’t understand why someone would do that. Family was precious, something to treasure. Why would anyone throw that away?

"We may have no choice but to trust Anora," Eamon told her. "The queen is well-loved. If Loghain succeeded at pinning her death on me… I'm not sure that's a risk we can afford to take."

"No, you're right," she said with a sigh. "We have to help."

"I have some uniforms," Erlina said. "Arl Howe hires so many new guards every day, a few more will not cause much stir. I will show you to the servant's entrance. We must slip in and out with my queen before anyone is the wiser. I will go ahead to Howe's estate. Meet me there as soon as you can." Alistair followed Elyssa out of the room, only to have her stop in the hall and turn to face him.

"No, Alistair, you're staying here this time," she insisted before he could open his mouth. "If something goes wrong, you can't get caught with me. It's already bad enough that we're having to go to these kinds of extremes. If we're going to present you as king, you can't have something for them to hold against you."

"If I become king, they won't hold my breaking the previous queen out of house arrest over me," he said with a raised eyebrow, taking her hand.

She sighed and looked down at their joined hands. "I can't let you get wrapped up in that," she said again, softer this time. His other hand was used to lift her gaze back to his, and surprised her with a quick kiss. "Hey!" she snapped, blushing brightly. 

"If you want me to stay here, I'll stay," he said after a moment. "But please, stay safe. It'd be even worse for my reputation if I had to go break my Warden out of Loghain's clutches." This granted him a small smile. 

"I'll bring Kenai with me," she promised. He just laughed.


	52. Rescue the Queen

Maybe it wasn't the best of ideas, but Leliana and Zevran were probably the ones who were probably most likely to be able to blend in, save Elyssa and Alistair. And maybe her hound wasn't the best idea either, but she was bringing him along anyway. Sten was too tall to pass as a hired guard, and Alistair was too well known. And… well, she'd have to come up with something to explain Kenai's presence. But it was Ferelden. Plenty of people had mabari. Maybe not as pure of breed as Kenai, but that was alright. He'd definitely get less questions than Shale would, at any rate.

The group made it to the estate with little trouble, but it was there that the trouble began. A crowd had gathered before the main gate, which she supposed could actually be a good thing. Serve as a distraction to help them go unnoticed. Erlina was waiting for them behind a cart, hidden from view of the front door.

"The servants' entrance is on the other side of the house," she told them. "We must slip past this crowd to reach it. We will have to be very careful: Arl Howe is inside."

"Howe is here?" Elyssa asked, careful to keep her tone level. 

"Yes," the elf confirmed. "And wherever he goes, a great many guards go with him." 

"Good," she said, her voice suddenly taking on a dark edge. "I was hoping I'd get a chance to see him."

"I beg you, do not put my lady in danger for your revenge," Erlina insisted. "We must get her out first."

"I've been a Grey Warden long enough to learn how to put my desire for revenge aside," Elyssa said with a sigh. "Let's get going."

"I will be right behind you."

Getting to the door was easy enough. "I can distract the guards, but you must move quickly," the elf said. After their disguises were donned, the group hid in the bushes while she distracted the guards by pretending she'd seen a darkspawn in the courtyard. They waited inside the servants' entrance for Erlina to return. She warned them that while the servants wouldn't notice any difference between them and the regular guards, the real guards might, and it was better to stay away from them. And then, off they went. 

"The Grey Warden is here, my lady," Erlina said when they reached the door.

"Thank the Maker!" came the voice from beyond it, speaking haltingly as if to make sure she could be understood. "I would greet you properly, but I'm afraid we have had a… setback." 

"What sort of setback?" Elyssa asked. It was probably something to do with the fact that she wasn't coming out. 

"My 'host' was not content with leaving me under heavy guard," came the response. "He's sealed the door by magic." Elyssa groaned. Of course, the one time she doesn't bring a mage with her and the door is sealed with magic. 

"How do we open it?" 

"Find the mage who cast the spell. He'll most likely be at Howe's side."

"So much for secrecy," Elyssa said. But this might let her get a chance at him after all. It could've been worse. 

"Well, if he didn't know you were here, he soon will," Anora said through the door. 

"Good, I wanted to see him anyway," the Warden responded, a small smirk forming on her lips. 

"Thank you Warden. My prayers go with you." Erlina told them where to find Howe, and decided to stay with the queen. Elyssa agreed that was probably safer for the elf anyway. 

The dungeons looked deserted when they entered. Until a voice called out to them. Before Elyssa could get a good look at its owner, she heard signs of a struggle. Whoever was in the cell used the guard's keys to open his cell, and then took the guard's armor. 

"I thank you for the distraction, stranger," the prisoner said as he stepped out. "I have been waiting days for the opportunity." He gave Elyssa a peculiar glance. "You never hear music in the sound of a key turning in a lock until you have been imprisoned."

"Who're you?" she asked him. She sensed something about him, something different from the rest of her companions. 

"I am Riordan, senior Grey Warden of Jader," he said with a bit of a bow. That explained the weird feeling. "And you… must be Duncan's last recruit. Yes, you match his description." Duncan had written to someone besides the Wardens at Ostagar about her? 

"What are you doing here?" she asked, curious. 

"For the most part, attempting to hold my tongue," he said vaguely. "I was sent when we received no word from King Cailan as to the outcome at Ostagar. The king had invited all the Wardens of Orlais and their support troops to join him, then… nothing."

"How did Arl Howe capture you, then?"

"With an offer of hospitality and a poisoned chalice. I was fool enough to think Loghain didn't yet know who I was," he explained. 

"I found these papers upstairs," she said, showing him what she'd found in the chest in Howe's quarters. "Are they yours?"

"Yes, these are my records," he confirmed, taking them. "The names of the dead I could recognize at Ostagar. What I could find of Duncan's own recruitment records. Copies of the Joining ritual I rescued from our Denerim vault. Those should never be seen by any outside eyes, but I trust in their encryption." Oh, Duncan's recruitment records. So that was how Riordan had recognized her. 

"The Joining ritual? Can you induct other Grey Wardens?" she asked. Neither she nor Alistair knew how to conduct the Joining ritual, both of them having been junior members of the order until that dark night.

"Would that I could, for Ferelden sorely needs them," Riordan said regretfully. "But for the Joining to work, the recruit needs not only fresh darkspawn blood, but a drop of blood preserved from an archdemon. Ferelden's supply should have been in the vault, but it was gone. I can only imagine someone took it out and Loghain either confiscated or destroyed it." Which meant that they really were on their own to win this. 

"Then we need to get it back," she suggested.

"As you know, the Joining's chance of success is slim anyway," he reminded her. Not that she needed reminding. The Warden's Oath pendant sat around her neck as it had since Ostagar. "Loghain has done far worse to the Wardens than cut us off from recruiting. And from the rumors flying through Denerim, removing him from the throne is already your plan, no?" 

"Where's Howe?" she asked finally. That was what she really needed to know. 

"I saw him go into the dungeons. He may still be there."

"How large a force did you bring with you?" 

"We had two hundred Wardens and two dozen divisions of cavalry," Riordan reported. "The first we heard of Loghain's edict was when everyone was turned back at the border. That was when the rumor reached us that Wardens were being blamed for the massacre. We finally decided it was safe to send someone alone, to learn how best to fight the Blight and this regime simultaneously. As a native Ferelden, I volunteered to make the crossing."

"But the archdemon's nearly here! Will we have no help?" Elyssa asked, almost desperate. Sure, she'd almost single-handedly united the dwarves, elves, mages, and humans to fight the Blight, but with only two Wardens, now three, their odds of victory still seemed slim.

"The other Wardens won't risk their strength fighting Ferelden's civil war," Riordan admitted. "If they spend themselves against Loghain, there is truly no hope. They recall accounts of the First Blight, how many cities fell. If Ferelden is too foolish to save itself, at least we'll be ready when the archdemon leads its forces further. Besides, I hear you haven't been doing too badly raising an army yourself." Well, he wasn't wrong… "But perhaps, if the edict can be lifted… I will send a message as soon as we are gone from this place."

"Will you come with me?" she asked. 

"I wouldn't be much use to you in my current condition," he confessed. "And, if you'll pardon me, I've a sudden desire to breathe some free air. I will seek you out later--after I find a good physician. And good luck… Sister." She watched as he made his way back up the stairs and into the castle proper. Odds were that he already knew she'd come with Eamon anyway. 

And then their disguises were worthless once a set of guards said no one was supposed to be down in the dungeons. _No problems here. I'm in the mood for a good fight,_ Elyssa realized.

In one of the rooms, they found a man in his smallclothes tied to a torture rack. When Elyssa freed him, he first assumed she had been send by his father, Bann Sighard. After a short conversation, she was able to secure the vote of the Dragon's Peak Bannorn before Oswyn left. In a set of cells was an elf who didn't even know that Arl Urien or King Cailan was dead. 

They went through one more door and were caught by Arl Howe himself. "Well, look here," he said disdainfully. "Bryce Cousland's little spitfire, all grown up and still playing the man. I never thought you'd be fool enough to turn up here. But I never thought you'd live, either." Elyssa narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on Starfang. Obviously he'd never expected her to live. She recalled the look on his face when Duncan walked into the Highever Castle throne room. Duncan, a Grey Warden had been an unseen obstacle in Rendon Howe's plans. Elyssa had faced the fact before: if Duncan hadn't been in Highever that night, she probably would not have survived the attack.

"Why betray us, Howe?" she demanded. "My father was your friend!"

"A clumsy appeal, child," he responded, again in the same disdainful tone. "He was a traitor to me and a coward to his nation! Trips to Orlais, gifts from old enemies; all while I sank into obscurity. Your family squandered glory that was rightfully mine. How suitable that their deaths should raise me to the ear of a king." She was seeing red again. This bastard had killed not only her parents, but Orana, Oren, Lady Landra and Dairren, and all their servants, just because he was jealous? "If you think you can take this from me, that I will allow it, you are very much mistaken!" Swords were drawn and bows aimed, and the fight broke out. A fight that Elyssa was more than glad to dive into.

"Maker spit on you…" he swore with his last breath. "I deserved… more…" His body fell flat against the stone floor of the dungeon, and he went still. 

"I've already been spit on," Elyssa hissed. "The Maker spit on me when he allowed you to ruin my family." She turned away from the body of the man who had ruined her life. "He's dead. The bastard's finally dead for what he did…" she said with a sigh, feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She'd gotten revenge for her parents, for her brother, and for Bann Loren, as well as the families of every servant and soldier that had been in Highever Castle the night it was attacked. 

In a room behind where she'd killed the former arl, she found a Templar, brother to Bann Alfstana of the Waking Sea bannorn. His request was to take a ring to her, to apologize. And in the other cell was a man claiming to be the son of the arl of Denerim, who had died at Ostagar. She despised the man's attitude toward the elves, but she needed the votes. So that was what secured his release. Hopefully it would be enough of an edge. Now they just had to free Anora. 

"My thanks," she said when they unlocked the door. She came out dressed as a guard, likely to make it easier for her to sneak back out. 

"Let's go," Elyssa said quickly. She turned to the elf. "You. You get her out of here no matter what happens." It wasn't a suggestion, it was more like an order. But in the gravity of the situation, both Erlina and Anora kept quiet about it. She looked out into the entry hall and swore. This wasn't going to go well. 

"Warden, I am here on order of the regent to place you under arrest for the murder of Arl Rendon Howe and his men at arms," Cauthrien said when she approached. "Surrender and you may be shown mercy."

"I will stand down," she said definitively. 

"Why surrender now?" Leliana asked. "We've come so far."

"Are you sure this is what you wish?" Erlina asked. 

"Killing them just reinforces Loghain's lies about me," she reasoned. Besides, if she surrendered, the others could get back to Eamon and work on a plan to get her out of… wherever they were going to take her. 

"I am surprised this ended peacefully," Cauthrien admitted. "Bring the Warden," she said to her guards. "Loghain doesn't care about the rest." Elyssa didn't fight as the soldiers took her weapons and bound her wrists. She cast a sidelong look at her companions, Kenai letting out a little whimper as Cauthrien's men began to lead her away.

"Just be careful with my sword, will you?" she asked. "It's one of a kind."  
_________________________________________________

"Eamon, we have a problem!" Anora said when Leliana and Zevran got her back to the estate. She was frantic, but the elf and the redhead seemed to have an almost determined aura of calm around them.

"Oh, good, I was starting to worry this would be easy," Alistair said with his usual sarcasm, though a note of worry flowed beneath. Leliana and Zevran were back, but a certain someone was missing. There were only two things that could mean, and he knew the two rogues wouldn't be quite so calm if Elyssa had been killed.

"Calm down, what has happened?" Eamon said, ignoring Alistair's remark. 

"The Warden has been captured," Anora told them. 

"What? How could this happen?" Eamon asked.

"Never mind that," Anora said quickly. "The question is how to free her. Cauthrien will take her to Fort Drakon. Getting in will be no small feat…"

After their meeting, Alistair did end up punching the wall as he had stopped Elyssa from doing just that morning. "This is why I wanted to go with her," he admitted when Eamon gave him a look.

"And this is exactly why she left you here," he explained. "She was planning for something like this. If the two of you were captured together, this would have been a lot worse for the Wardens as a whole." 

"I wish we could go after her already." He'd specifically asked her not to do something like this. 

"I've seen how you care for her, and I understand your frustration, but you must be patient," Eamon said sternly. "Rushing in when everyone is exhausted will only serve to get you captured as well. And then where would we be?" Alistair sighed. He knew the truth to Eamon's words, but that didn't make him feel any better. "We will leave for Fort Drakon once we have a plan. You can't just storm in and hope everything will work itself out." 

"I know," Alistair conceded. "Knowing her, though, she'll find some way to escape before we can make a plan to get to her."


	53. Captured!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not many people have managed to break out of Fort Drakon, and even fewer have lived to tell the tale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone playing the game, there's actually a point where you'll end up stuck and have to reload. If you aren't strong enough to knock out the guard, or if your attempt to pick the lock on the cell door fails, you'll be stuck and have to reload in order to let the others rescue you. If you bring Alistair with you to rescue Anora and either surrender or lose the fight against Cauthrien, he'll be the one talking to you instead of the random nameless prisoner.

Chapter 53: Captured!

She hadn't intended to struggle, really, but she had refused to let them take her Warden's Oath pendant, so they'd knocked her out. When she woke up, she was stripped to her smallclothes and locked in a cell. Which, honestly, was about what she'd expected when she surrendered. It was the screaming that woke her. The cell she'd been placed in was above only one thing: the torture chamber in the pit below. She couldn't see into it from her cell, but the sounds alone were enough.

She stood slowly, the pounding headache making it hard to focus, and examined the door.

"You look like you've been dragged through ten kinds of crap, friend," said the man in the next cell. "What'd you do?"

"I killed Rendon Howe," she said with a shrug.

"Who calls that a crime? More like a public service," he said with a scoff. "Still, they'll hang you for it." She looked away. Hanging was the punishment for murderers, she knew that. What she didn't know is why exactly Howe had managed to escape that fate, even after the deaths of so many innocents on his orders. 

"I'm getting out of here," she responded. She had been raised in the Ferelden court. She could trick a guard into coming near, or maybe even into the cell, and then overpower him and take the key. She could do that, at least. It was better than waiting around for the others to find her.

The man chuckled. "Good luck with that," he said sarcastically. "I'll expect the Maker to walk in here and sing us a sea chantey first though." 

When the guard got close, she attracted his attention before reaching through the bars and whacking him hard enough upside the head to knock him out. He fell close enough for her to grab the keys to her cell. She decided to unlock the other cell too, just for kicks. The man thanked her and left. Luckily all her possessions were in a chest nearby, including Starfang. It was going to be a lot harder getting out of here than it had been saving Anora, she guessed.

She ended up having to fight a pair of Mabari and their handler early on, but she figured there was somewhere she could get some sort of disguise. That was her best chance at getting out, rather than trying to fight through every guard in the place.

 _Maker's breath, I don't even really know where I am,_ she realized as she climbed the steps. The first room she found had a guard's armor sitting on a stand, so she quickly put it on. There, the disguise she'd been looking for. She got stopped at a door with guards asking for a password, and thankfully all they thought when she didn't know it was that she was a new recruit. Sounded like they'd dealt with plenty of those already anyway. She stumbled into another room and once again got treated like a recruit, and told to get ready for inspection. 

She found the men she was supposedly meant to patrol with, and one of them started complaining about how the quartermaster wasn't happy with him. Something having to do with potatoes. She got sent to handle the assistant quartermaster and collect the regulation swords for everyone. She also managed to convince the man in charge that they were ready, and so she and her two "patrol mates" were on their way. More like she was on her way to freedom. 

And she was not looking forward to Alistair's reaction. 

In fact, she returned to the estate just in time to find a group readying to set out to rescue her. It had taken her a surprising while to ditch the two idiots she'd used to escape the fort. 

"Maker's breath, it's good to see you in one piece, friend!" Eamon said when she sauntered through the study's door, a small smirk on her face.

"Indeed," Anora agreed. "We have been praying for your safe return, Warden." 

"I've seen as much dungeon as I ever want to," she admitted with a shake of her head. 

"I can believe it," Eamon responded. "Though I'm afraid if we do not act quickly to erode Loghain's support, we may all be seeing a great deal of Fort Drakon in the future."

"How much time do we have to stop him?" she asked, the smirk fading as their conversation turned serious. She noticed the way Alistair was looking at her, but left it alone for the moment. 

"Very little," Anora replied. "We will need to work together, and quickly." She paused and took a breath. "My father has gone mad. I didn't believe it at first, but he is gripped by a paranoia so severe it prevents him from seeing sense. He saw me as a threat, yet even now I'm certain he will be telling the nobles you are dangerous murderers that have kidnapped and mind controlled me. He may even believe it."

"Can he still take the throne without you?"

"Perhaps. It will be more difficult for him, but if my father says the Grey Wardens are the enemy, many will believe it," she admitted. "He is a legend."

"It's true," Eamon said. "Our position in the Landsmeet is not strong, and this does little to help us."

"At least that snake Howe is dead," Anora said. Elyssa happened to agree. "That alone will not be enough, however. My father is committed to his path. You will need ammunition for the Landsmeet, and there I can help. You have only just arrived in the city, so perhaps you are unaware of some… recent events. Denerim has been in turmoil since Ostagar. Many people here are angry or grieving. Strangely, the unrest is worst in the alienage. Few elves accompanied the army. They should have little reason to be upset. Which means that Howe and my father must have given them reason. I don't know what is happening there, but I am certain my father has his hands in it."

"A useful lead Anora, but… you could have sent this information with your maid," Eamon observed. 

"That is true. I feared for my safety as Howe's prisoner, but to tell the truth I sent Erlina to you because I hoped we might join forces." Ah, there was always a catch. "You need that evidence for the Landsmeet, but you also need a stronger candidate for the throne. You need me." 

_Oh, here we go,_ Elyssa found herself thinking. 

"And what of Alistair?" she asked instead. 

"I have no doubt Alistair is biddable enough, and decent, but even with his blood he is no king," Anora said. "You think only I can see it? Not only that, Alistair is a Grey Warden. It will look like you are trying to put a Grey Warden on the throne, despite your claims. I am a neutral party--and I am already queen." Elyssa had to admit that she had a point. There was that whole _Wardens don't get involved in politics_ thing that had kind of been thrown out the window since Ostagar. 

"Anora, you are indeed Cailan's widow, but--"

"I am the daughter of Ferelden's greatest general," Anora protested. "Who do you think truly ruled this nation for the last five years? Cailan? I am what this country needs, not an untrained king who does not even want the throne. I can help you stop my father." She met Elyssa's gaze. "Consider what I have said. For now, I think I will retire to my room. Warden, when you have a moment I ask that you speak to me in private."

"Well, she's quite… spirited," Eamon said after Anora and Erlina left. "I remember when Loghain first brought her to Denerim. Poor Cailan was a good boy, but Anora was always two steps ahead. Had him jumping when she snapped since the first time she batted her eyelashes. I cannot help thinking she may be trouble. But we should keep her close, all the same."

"Why do you think she's trouble?" Elyssa had her own opinions, but she wanted to hear his thoughts too.

"This is an alliance of convenience--for the moment we are united against Loghain," he explained. "Be careful how much trust you place in her. I do not for a moment think Anora means t give up her power easily. Still. I would rather have her where we can watch her than actively working for Loghain." Elyssa was of the same opinion there, at least.

"But aren't we planning to depose her?"

"Anora was a capable administrator for Cailan's lands, but she has not a drop of royal blood." That's right, Loghain had only been elevated to Teyrn because of his actions in the Battle of River Dane. "We did not fight the Orlesians all those years just to lose our royal line in a single generation. Not when there's a surviving son of the blood." 

"But Alistair's mother was a scullery maid," she said, forgetting for a moment that he was in the room. "How is that better?" 

"Um, thanks. I'm right here you know," he said. Elyssa winced and tossed an apologetic look his way. First she'd gotten captured, now this. 

"His mother was a maid, but his father was Maric Theirin, for whom we all risked our lives to win back the throne," Eamon continued before Elyssa could respond. "I only wish Maric had taken more time to instruct the lad in the politics of ruling. I did my best, but…" He sighed. "We all hoped Cailan and Anora would secure the succession."

She hesitated to speak again. Alistair had probably been incredibly worried about her after she'd gotten captured, and she didn't really want to risk making him mad at her now. 

"What do you think Loghain's doing in the alienage?" she said, changing the topic entirely.

"Maker knows what that man is capable of now…"

"I've got my work cut out for me…"

"If I might make a suggestion: speak to Anora. She will either be a powerful ally, or a powerful enemy, and the sooner we know which she is, the better." Elyssa nodded. It made sense. She made her way from the room, only to hear a familiar clanking of armor following. She paused in the hallway, but didn't turn to face him. Instead of making her, he walked around to her front and embraced her.

"Don't do that to me again," Alistair whispered in her ear. She could hear how worried he'd been. "Do you know how terrifying it was, having to wait with no idea of what was happening to you?" After a moment, she hugged him back. 

"I'm sorry, Alistair," she said quietly. She wanted to say more, but she wasn't sure if there was anything that could be said to make it easier for either of them. "Will you… stay with me tonight?" she asked instead. She finally lifted her head to look up at him, and he pressed a kiss to her lips. She took that as a yes, and she could feel his desperation, the worry and relief, through the touch of his lips on hers. 

The next morning, she walked into the dining room with him and her companions all fell silent. Then everyone started talking at once. Zevran wanted to know how she'd gotten out alone, but most of them were simply worried about her wellbeing. Oghren, as usual, was drinking already.

"It was actually pretty simple," she told them as she sat in the chair they'd kept free for her. "I just put on a guard uniform that I found and played soldier for a little while. With the idiots that I was given as my patrol, it wasn't hard." A plate of food was put before her, and she quickly began to eat. "Riordan was right, though. You never know the music of a key turning in a lock until you've been imprisoned."

"Wait, who's Riordan?" Alistair asked.

"They didn't tell you?" Elyssa countered, pointing at Leliana and Zevran both. "Riordan, senior Warden of Jader and native-born Ferelden. The Orlesian Wardens sent one of their own to scout the conditions here, but he got caught by Arl Howe. He said he'd find us after he recovered a bit. Odds are he'll tell us the things that Duncan and the others never got the chance to." The two of them went quiet after bringing up Duncan's name, but Elyssa was soon swept away in everyone's joy that she was back safe. 

After breakfast, they went to the Gnawed Noble tavern where they'd seen some of the nobles before. There were a few errands to run before they could go clear up the mess in the alienage. Bann Sighard was easily swayed to speak against Loghain. Bann Alfstana even offered her bowmen to Elyssa for the day she took back her teyrnir. Lord Bryland still refused to speak to her, and Arl Wulfe was still drowning himself in his tankard. Turning to drink, Elyssa reasoned, was just his version of an escape. 

Now it was time to fix the mess Howe and Loghain had made of the Alienage.


	54. Unrest in the Alienage

"How can you be here?!" a female voice demanded as the group made their way through the gate. "How many of our brothers and sisters and parents and children have they already taken?" There were multiple lines of elves waiting outside a single building. Between the elves and the building was a mage, definitely not dressed in Circle robes, and a pair of what Elyssa could only assume to be bodyguards. 

"I have children at home!" one of the women in line complained. "I can't wait out here another day!"

"So go home!" said the first voice, belonging to a redheaded elf woman. "The best thing you can do for your children is not trust these charlatans!"

"Everyone remain calm," the human mage said. "We will help as many as we can today, so long as we can do so in an orderly fashion."

"Oh, you're 'helping' us, are you shem? Like Valendrian and my uncle Cyrion, you helped them didn't you?" the redhead continued. "Helped them never to be seen again!"

"We've explained this to you before, girl," the mage said exasperatedly. "More whining will not persuade us to let you into the quarantine to carry plague back out to the alienage." 

"Quit trying to get us all killed, Shiani," barked one of the men in line. "Some of us still got things to live for."

"If this spell of theirs works, why are half the people in quarantine perfectly healthy?" the redhead demanded.

"What's going on?" Elyssa said, stepping in before things got too crazy.

"What's wrong, shem?" the redhead asked disdainfully. "Did you get bored and decide to come watch the elves die of plague?" She narrowed her eyes, then widened them. "Wait. Soris told me about you. You're the one who freed him from the dungeons. These foreigners say they're here to help with our outbreak of plague. Funny thing though, all the people they 'help' disappear."

"That's not true and you know it Shiani," said another of the elven women. "Both my sisters got the Tevinter spell cast on them, and they're fine."

"Where's your niece, then?" the one called Shiani challenged. "And my uncle Cyrion? And Valendrian?"

"If there's a plague, why are people out in the streets?"

"These men from Tevinter say their magic will prevent us from catching it," Shiani explained, "but it doesn't work if you're already ill. So they set up a quarantine. But many of the ones they quarantine aren't sick. One of them was our hahren, Valendrian. And I don't know what we're going to do if we don't get him back." She almost sounded desperate.

"I think I'll go take a look inside," she said. She didn't know what a hahren was, and she didn't particularly care. All that mattered was getting to the bottom of whatever was going on.

"They won't just let you in," Shiani said.

"You got a better plan?"

"Well… there is another entrance in the alley," the redheaded elf said. "There's no crowd watching, no mages, and only one guard. You can try. Those guards mean business." 

"You say that like I'm a pushover," Elyssa joked. She left Shiani to what she'd been doing before and went around the back. There really was only one guard. 

"No you can't go inside 'just for a moment' so you might as well walk right back around to the front doors," the guard snapped. Obviously she wasn't the first person to try this. "You shouldn't be out on the streets now anyway, what with the plague."

"Aren't you afraid of getting the plague yourself?" she asked him.

"What's worse?" he asked. "Dying of the plague or dying of hunger? I'll take my chances with the plague, thank you, if it means I get paid. I've been hungry. The novelty has worn off." That gave Elyssa an idea about how to get around him. 

"How much do they pay you?"

"Not enough to put up with all these questions. What do you want?" 

"Would you let me inside for six sovereigns?" she suggested.

"Six? Sure," he said after a moment. "I never saw you, and you never saw me." She handed him the coins, and he gave her the key for the door before walking away. Six wasn't even that much of a dent in what she had now. She unlocked the door and went inside, the others following close behind. The guards inside were easy enough to defeat, and the lack of patients on the cots was worrying. A note on the desk made her even more concerned.

"Bring eight males and six females for the next shipment…?" she read softly. "Slavers. That Shiani girl was right." She took the key that had been next to the note and went to the third door. One in the front, one in the back… and this one. Inside were elves in cages, all of which Elyssa opened with the key. One of the elves told her that Valendrian had already been taken through the alley. The elves were released, and Elyssa went out the back door and back around the front to make sure nobody else was getting tricked. Only to be promptly attacked by the supposed healers who had been taking the elves in the first place. With that batch of slavers dead, they returned to the alley and the building at the end.

More coin was given to an elf inside, and he told them where the slavers had been taking the others. Apparently Valendrian was one of the ones that had been taken last time. 

Out the back door, and they found more guards. This time, Elyssa had no desire to pretend. She introduced herself as a Grey Warden, and the guards attacked. When they entered the second building, the elf inside confirmed that they'd been given permission before attacking. 

"Now, to find proof," Elyssa muttered after the elf was dead. She had a strong suspicion that Loghain was the one behind this, but suspicions weren't going to get them any points against him in the Landsmeet.

At the back of the second house, they were greeted by another mage.

"I am Caladrius," he said calmly. "And you, I assume, must be the Grey Warden I've heard so much about.

"You've heard of me?" Elyssa asked, mildly curious. Few outside of Ferelden would've heard about the trouble they were having, beyond news of the Blight and civil war. She was just one woman. How had a Tevinter slaver heard about her?

"One can hardly get a word out of the regent besides 'Warden' these days. It surpassed even 'gold' in popularity." So Loghain was behind this after all.

"Then you should know to be frightened of me," she said, crossing her arms.

"Now, now, is this how we begin? With bluster? I was hoping for… civility," he joked. 

"As civilized as slavery?" 

"Business is business, my dear Warden," he said. "Even so, your point is made: you do frighten me. But you also intrigue me. I heard you are trying to erode Loghain's support. Must be a difficult task, yes? Like washing away a mountain. Perhaps you could use some help."

"Oh, this should be good," she said sarcastically.

"Sarcasm is beneath us both, my dear Warden," he suggested. "Truth be told, there was always going to be a limit to how long we were going to be able to operate here. We've paid for many of Loghain's troops, but once the Landsmeet is done we become… inconvenient. So, here is my offer: one hundred sovereigns from you for a letter with the seal of the Teyrn of Gwaren upon it, implicating him in all this. Then, we leave a few days earlier than planned, with our profits and remaining slaves, unharmed." 

"Tis a reasonable enough **starting** offer," Morrigan said.

"I feel dirty," Alistair muttered. "We're not actually considering this, are we?"

"So, do we have a deal?" the slaver asked. "Even you must admit it's much better than resorting to barbarism, yes?"

"I have a counter-offer," Elyssa told him.

"Interesting…"

"You leave everything, and escape with your lives," she growled, finally letting her anger show.

"Now, that's not much of a deal, then, is it?" the slaver observed. "Let's do this the hard way, then. Men? Shall we?" And just like that, the battle was on. But before she got the chance to kill him, he surrendered.

"Perhaps you should be left to the mercies of these elves?" Elyssa suggested.

"Wait! Hear me out, dear lady!" he insisted. "Were I to use the life force of the remaining slaves here, I could… augment your physical health a great deal! Allow me to leave this place alive and I would be more than happy to do this little service for you."

"Hm… An interesting offer, if a tad messy," Morrigan chimed in.

"So… is my offer of interest to you? Yes?"

"No, it isn't," Elyssa said immediately. 

"Then… I don't suppose you would just consider… letting me go?" he asked.

"No. I don't suppose I would." When the slaver was dead, Elyssa took his keys and released the elves.

"You don't look like a Tevinter…" one of them said. "Not that it means much. Are you one of them? What happens to us now?"

"Are you Valendrian?" she asked instead. "Shianni was looking for you."

"Shianni… did she send you here? Praise the Maker!" the elf said happily. "We will not trespass long on your good graces. Come, everyone, let's go home." Elyssa led her companions outside, after cleaning up what the slavers had left behind. They found Shianni by the tree, who thanked them before pointing them in the direction of Valendrian's home. 

"Ah, it's you! Welcome!" he said when he opened the door. "Please, come in. Tell me, how is Duncan?"

"You know Duncan?" she asked slowly, mildly surprised. But he didn't know about what happened…

"He's been a friend of mine for many years, yes," Valendrian confirmed. He paused, a concerned look on his face. "From the look on your face, I take it the news is bad…"

"He… died at Ostagar," she said, glancing away. 

"I am… sorry to hear that," the elf said genuinely. "I knew that the Wardens suffered great losses at Ostagar, but a few escaped… I had hoped Duncan might be one of them."

"No, just myself and Alistair here," she informed him. "How did you know Duncan?"

"He came here every now and then to look for potential recruits," Valendrian explained. "Perhaps that seems strange to you, but Duncan was a man who knew that talent could emerge in the most unlikely places." He was that, yes.

"What will you do about the plague now?" 

"We've been through outbreaks of pestilence during the war with Orlais," he said. "We'll endure. I doubt very much now that the Tevinter intervention would have helped us anyway."

"I should be going," she said after a moment of silence. There was still something she wanted to check before going back to the estate. 

"Please, take this," Valendrian said before they left, handing Elyssa a rather nice dagger. "Duncan gave it to me years ago. I suspect you'll put it to better use than I would." 

"Thank you," she said, taking the dagger. It was definitely of fine make. With that, the group made their way back to the market. She wanted to check out this Warden Vault that Riordan had mentioned, but she realized she'd probably need to talk to Riordan more first. Hopefully he was already at the estate.


	55. Queen Anora

Instead of speaking to Riordan first, Elyssa made her way to Anora's room. She had to know whether the Queen was going to be their ally or their enemy.

"Hello again, Warden" the queen said to her. "It is good that you came to speak with me. First, let me say that I knew your family. Eleanor in particular was very dear to me, and what Howe did… was unforgivable. How fitting he died at your hands." 

"I appreciate it," she said formally. It was as if a switch had been flipped in her mind. Suddenly it was as if she had never left the noble circles. 

"I will be blunt," Anora continued. "I can see that your voice will be a strong one in the days to come. It is to you that Eamon listens, and with good reason. My father must be stopped, but once that is done Ferelden will need a ruler. I would welcome your support for my throne."

"I don't think I'm as important as you believe," Elyssa said hesitantly. True, she was the rightful Teyrn of Highever, but she was just a Grey Warden at the moment. And now that Riordan had joined their ranks, there were three of them. 

"No? You are a Grey Warden, and despite the fact that my father will paint himself as the only one who can protect the country from the Blight it is not so," Anora insisted. "Secondly, you saved Arl Eamon from a plot that no doubt had its origins in Howe's sick little mind. People will not forget that. You are competent and powerful, and in the right place at the right time. Used to your advantage, these things could bring you far."

"Are you proposing an alliance?" she asked carefully.

"That is exactly what I am proposing," the queen confirmed. "When the time comes, you support my bid in the Landsmeet to remain on the throne. You will be seen as my father's enemy, yet you will be in support of his daughter. You will be seen as supporting the interests of Ferelden as opposed to solely those of the Grey Wardens. In return, I add my voice to yours. Do you see? Together we can do what alone we cannot."

"What happens to Loghain if you are queen?" His support of Howe couldn't go forgotten, after all. 

"He is my father, as well as a great general who has served his nation well until now," she responded, almost sadly. "If there is a way for him to live, I would prefer it."

"Justice must be done, don't you think?" she challenged. Her months as a Warden had made her less afraid of the nobility.

"I will always be my father's daughter, but even I know he must pay for his crimes," Anora admitted. "It will not make me glad, even so." A pause, and the queen met Elyssa's gaze. "Does that affect your decision? Can we yet come to an arrangement?"

"You think you are a better candidate than Alistair?" Elyssa asked.

"Do you disagree?" she countered. "You are a fellow Grey Warden. What do you think of Alistair's potential to rule, never mind his willingness?"

"Being a good ruler requires more than ambition," the Warden reminded her.

"Alistair seems like a kind, well-meaning man, and biddable enough," Anora agreed. "These are admirable qualities, if not kingly ones. He also seems to be a fine Grey Warden--which is exactly why he should remain one, and serve the kingdom by defeating the darkspawn."

"A kind king who is a fine warrior? Sounds good to me," Elyssa said with a shrug.

"Oh, there are some who would follow Alstair out of respect for his Theirin blood," the queen admitted. "The others would see this as Eamon grabbing for power. Who else do you think Alistair would turn to for help? Eventually the nobility would return to the old days of constant warring with each other. Alistair's weakness would destroy everything Maric built." 

"You don't seem to like Alistair much," Elyssa observed.

"My feelings toward Alistair have nothing to do with it," she insisted. "I barely know him. I simply believe that I am what this country needs. I will fight for what I believe. Would Alistair do the same? What say you, then? Your support for mine in the Landsmeet?"

"No," Elyssa said with a shake of her head. "I cannot support you."

"Ah. That's too bad." Elyssa wasn't entirely sure if she meant it.

"Will you support Alistair in the Landsmeet?" she asked instead.

"Maric's boys are charming, aren't they?" Anora countered, catching Elyssa by surprise. "And happiest when they have a woman to dote upon. Is that why you support him? The way you speak of him, it… simply has me curious." Elyssa schooled her features into a careful mask, to hide how she truly felt. 

"I think he would be a better king than you believe," she responded carefully.

"Well, fair enough," Anora said after a moment. "I'll tell you this: my father must be stopped. Once he is kept from the throne, if it should fall to Alistair then I will be content." 

"Then I should go," Elyssa said with a slight bow. For now, she was the queen, and still deserving of respect.

"Then I wish you luck, Warden." 

Riordan she found in Arl Eamon's study. 

"Hello again, friend," he said to her as she approached. "It looks as though you're no worse for wear after your stay in Fort Drakon."

"I was hoping to learn more about the Grey Wardens," she admitted. "I had my Joining just hours before the battle of Ostagar, so there wasn't a chance for me to learn anything from the others."

"Well, I'd be happy to tell you what I know, but it seems to me that you've picked the important parts up yourself," he observed. "Be firm in your beliefs, protect people from their own ignorance, and be as loyal as you can to your brothers, even knowing you'll share their deaths."

"How many Wardens are there?" she asked. "You mentioned that Orlais had two hundred."

"It's tough to say," he admitted. "Only the fortress in Weisshaupt has every record. But there are certainly a few dozen or hundreds in every nation in Thedas. The Anderfels are home to over a thousand. It's almost like the archdemon chose Ferelden deliberately, knowing how unguarded it is."

"Have you ever been to the fortress in Weisshaupt?"

"Once, only, and I'd rather not go again," he confessed. "It's far, lass, and very foreign. The Wardens there, they fight darkspawn like you and me, but they're shaped by the winters there and the forest. They're a cold group who don't care like they should about the rest of the world. Their king is weak and many Anders look to the Wardens to rule. I hate to say this, but some of them seem to want it that way."

"I guess that's all for now," she said after a moment. 

"The important thing to remember is none of that matters," he told her. "When you're facing darkspawn, all you will need to know is to stop them at all costs." Later, she asked him again about the vault. Apparently it was in that old warehouse off the market district, in the alley past the Gnawed Noble tavern. She took Alistair with her, but left the others at the estate. This was something the two of them, as Wardens, needed to do alone. 

"Hey, Alistair, look at this," she called when she found a certain interesting thing. 

"This shield… It's Duncan's, isn't it? That's his crest…" Alistair said softly, looking at it. 

"I thought you might want it," she told him. "You did say that you wished you had something to remember him by."

"Thank you," he said genuinely, taking it in his hands. "I had no idea his shield wasn't with him. This is perfect. I don't know how else to express my gratitude. This means a great deal to me. I can't believe you remembered it at all…"

"Of course I remembered," she said gently. 

"I'll treasure this," he said softly, using one hand to pull her close and dropping a soft kiss on her forehead. "Thank you." He looked down at the shield for a moment before holding it out to her. "But for now, I want you to use it."

"What? Why?" she asked, surprised.

"We both know your family shield has taken quite a beating since Ostagar," he reminded her. "And the other ones you've been using don't exactly hold up." Well, he wasn't wrong. The wooden shields she'd been using since setting the Cousland shield aside had been coming out of their recent battles more than a little damaged. "I have Cailan's shield, but you need something better." 

She slid Duncan's shield onto her arm, marveling at how well-balanced it was. "Besides, now your shield matches the armor," he added with a small grin, poking the griffon on her breastplate. 

"And you were doing so well, too," Elyssa laughed. She reached up and kissed him lightly on his cheek. "Though I do feel better with a good shield on my arm." She looked down for a moment, then sighed.

"What is it?" Alistair asked softly.

"I don't think we can delay the Landsmeet any further," she said. "We need to go back to Eamon and make a plan. And we shouldn't count on Anora's support, either."

"Shouldn't? Or can't?"

"You say that like there's a difference," Elyssa sighed. "Come on, let's get back to the estate."


	56. The Landsmeet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To win the Landsmeet, you need a total of five points. Each noble's vote in your favor is +1, each noble against you is -1. If Anora is on your side, she gives you +3, and if you do things just right, the Revered Mother will denounce Loghain and earn you another +2. If you win, you get the option to either trigger the melee yourself or skip straight to the duel. One of the nobles always votes for you, and another always votes for Loghain. The last guy doesn't count as a real vote, but he usually tells you who wins before everything explodes. You can also fight Cauthrien to get her sword, but I don't really care about the weapon myself. Oh, and if you have a Hardened Alistair kill Loghain, you won't get the option to pick who rules, he'll just take it himself. So if you want to marry him, or you want him to marry Anora, you need to be the one to duel Loghain.
> 
> And yes, I lost the Landsmeet. -.- Winning without Anora is REALLY hard. I think it might've worked if Jowan hadn't been killed.

"I've been hearing of a great commotion in the Alienage," Eamon said when she approached him. "What exactly happened there?"

"I have proof Loghain was involved in slave trading," Elyssa said solemnly, retrieving the papers from the tube she'd been carrying the treaties in. 

"Maker forgive me…" he muttered. "I should be appalled that such a thing could exist here, but I'm overjoyed you can implicate Loghain. We must end the civil war quickly. What the Blight does not corrupt in this land, politics surely will. The last of our allies have arrived in the city," he informed her. "We cannot delay any longer. I will call for the Landsmeet to convene. Bring Alistair and join me at the palace as soon as you are ready, Warden." 

She looked first at Alistair, then at Riordan. It had been decided that Riordan, as an outsider, would simply play spectator to their attempts. Unless things went wrong, of course. Along with Alistair, Elyssa decided to bring Leliana and Wynne, with the promise that the others would receive details later. Too many of them at the Landsmeet would just work against them.

Elyssa couldn't help the feeling of dread that settled into her stomach. Meetings like this always made her nervous, even as a child when she hadn't been expected to say anything. It didn't help that they were stopped in the entrance hall by Cauthrian. 

"Warden, I am not surprised that it has come to this," she said. "And Alistair. If you were even remotely worthy of being called Maric's son, you would already be in the Landsmeet, now wouldn't you?" She turned her attention back to Elyssa. "You have torn Ferelden apart to oppose the very man who ensured you were born into freedom. But do not think you will get past me to desecrate the Landsmeet itself. The nobles of Ferelden will confirm my lord as Regent, and we can finally put this to rest. Once you are gone."

"Do you really not see what Loghain has become?" Elyssa asked.

"I have had… so many doubts, of late," Cauthrian admitted. "Loghain is a great man, but his hatred of Orlais has driven him to madness. He has done terrible things. I know it, but I owe him everything. I cannot betray him, do not ask me to!" 

"Then let me stop him," Elyssa requested. "You know it's the only way."

"I never thought duty would taste so bitter," Cauthrian said with a wry smile. Then she stepped aside. "Stop him, Warden. Stop him from betraying everything he once loved. Please… show mercy. Without Loghain, there would be no Ferelden to defend." Elyssa nodded and walked smoothly past, into the palace's main hall. She had been here once before, as a child, though she didn't remember much. And those had been simpler times. She pushed open one of the doors and made her way inside.

"My lords and ladies of the Landsmeet," someone, probably Eamon, was saying. "Teyrn Loghain would have us give up our freedoms, our traditions, out of fear! **He** placed us on this path, yet we should place our destiny in his hands? Must we sacrifice everything good about our nation to save it?" Elyssa looked up and saw Arl Eamon standing on one of the two balconies, speaking to the nobles gathered both on the balconies and the lesser nobles below. A number of the nobles gathered applauded his speech, showing just how their hard work had paid off.

"A fine performance, Eamon, but no one here is taken in by it," Loghain said as he walked in from one of the other doors, speaking slowly so all could hear him. "You would attempt to put a puppet on the throne, and every soul here knows it. The better question is, 'Who will pull the strings?'" He looked over just in time to see Elyssa appearing from the back of the room. "Ah! And here we have the puppeteer!" he called to her. "Tell us, Warden, how will the Orlesians take our nation from us? Will they deign to send their troops, or simply issue their commands through this would-be prince? What did they offer you? How much is the price of Ferelden honor now?"

"The Blight is the threat here, not Orlais!" Elyssa said, loud and clear enough to be heard by the entire hall.

"There are enough refugees in my bannorn now to make that abundantly clear," Bann Alfstanna said from her position above. 

"The south has fallen, Loghain," Arl Wulfe announced. "Will you let darkspawn take the whole country for fear of Orlais?"

"The Blight is indeed real, Wulfe, but do we need Grey Wardens to fight it?" Loghain challenged. Okay, so there was more to Loghain's anti-Grey-Warden thing than just his fear of Orlesians, as Elyssa had thought back in Ostagar. "They claim that they alone can end the Blight, yet they failed spectacularly against the darkspawn at Ostagar, and they ask to bring with them four legions of chevaliers. And once we open our borders to the chevaliers, can we really expect them to simply return from whence they came?"

"You sold Ferelden citizens into slavery to fund your war!" she accused, bringing out the papers that implicated him as such.

"What's this?" one of the other nobles above said quickly. "There is no slavery in Ferelden! Explain yourself."

"There is no saving the Alienage," Loghain explained, eliciting a collective gasp from the gathered nobles. "Damage from the riots has yet to be repaired. There are bodies still rotting in their homes. It is not a place I would send my worst enemy. There is no chance of holding it if the Blight comes here." He looked back at Elyssa, who was glaring at him with cold eyes. "Despite what you may think, Warden, I have done my duty. Whatever my regrets may be for the elves, I have done what was needed for the good of Ferelden."

"Was sending an apostate to poison Eamon your duty as well?" she demanded.

"I assure you, Warden, if I were going to send someone, it would be my own soldiers," he said in an attempt to convince the nobles. "I would not trust to the discretion of an apostate."

"Indeed?" Bann Alfstanna interrupted. "My brother tells a different tale. He says you snatched a blood mage from the Chantry's justice. Coincidence?" 

_Maker, I'm glad she's on my side…_ Elyssa found herself thinking.

"Do not think the Chantry will overlook this, Teyrn Loghain," said a Revered Mother from the balcony. "Interference in a templar's sacred duties is an offence against the Maker."

"Whatever I have done, I will answer for it later," Loghain continued, not sounding at all worried. "At the moment, however, I wish to know what this Warden has done with my daughter."

"What have I done? I've protected her from you," she hissed. 

"You took my daughter--our queen--by force, killing her guards in the process," he insisted. "What arts have you employed to keep her? Does she even still live?"

"I believe I can speak for myself," Anora said calmly, entering through one of the side doors. "Lords and Ladies of Ferelden, hear me. This Warden has slandered and defamed Ferelden's greatest hero in a bid to put an imposter on Maric's throne!" Elyssa's eyes went wide in surprise, then narrowed in anger. 

_I knew we couldn't count on her,_ she told herself. Did they have enough on their side to win, now that Anora had turned against them?

"Oh, and she turned on us. What a shock," Alistair said jokingly, taking a few steps to stand by Elyssa's side in what could have been viewed as protectiveness. "She seemed like such a **nice** despot." 

"It has become clear to me, Warden, that the true threat to this nation is you," Anora said, meeting Elyssa's hardened gaze. This was bait, and she wasn't about to take it. "I offered you the chance to ally with me for the good of this nation, and you refused it. I will not allow you to destroy the throne Cailan and I have held."

"Who here can say that Anora is not fit to rule this land?" Loghain said before anyone else could respond. "And who can say that this Alistair is? We know nothing of him save that he **may** have royal blood. For five years, Anora has been queen, and proven herself worthy of the Theirin name. She can lead our people through this crisis, and I can lead her armies. My lords and ladies, our land has been threatened before. It's been invaded, and lost, and won times beyond counting. We Fereldens have proven that we will never truly be conquered so long as we are united. We must not let ourselves be divided now. Stand with me, and we shall defeat even the Blight itself!" Maker, he was long-winded. 

"The Warden," one of the nobles said. "I'm with the Warden."

"South Reach stands with the Grey Warden," Arl Bryland echoed.

"Waking Sea stands with the Grey Wardens!" Bann Alfstanna also agreed. Elyssa found her hopes beginning to rise. Even with Anora speaking against them, others had begun to vote in their favor.

"Dragon's Peak supports the Wardens!" Bann Sighard called. 

"The Western Hills throw their lot in with the Wardens. Maker help us," Arl Wulfe joined in.

"I stand by Loghain!" Bann Ceorlic announced, drawing a soft sigh from Elyssa. There had to be someone. "We've no hope of victory otherwise." 

"I'm with Loghain!" another noble called. "Who else could defeat the Blight? Loghain, I'm with you."

"This… bodes ill for us all," Eamon said, looking down at Elyssa.

"But nothing's been decided," she said to him.

"The Landsmeet has spoken!" Loghain claimed. "Following these Grey Wardens has cost us our king! We must not allow it to cost us our country. I charge Eamon, Alistair, and this Warden with treason!" Elyssa was confused. They'd lost? But more of the nobles had shown their support for them over Loghain! Maybe Anora's word had meant more than she first thought. "Take these traitors outside to await execution."

"To arms!" Eamon called suddenly. "We will not be taken without a fight!" And thus, the Landsmeet dissolved into a melee. The nobles who had spoken their support of Elyssa and Alistair also lent their troops to the fight. Eventually, Elyssa found herself facing Loghain's blade, a sneer on his face and a wicked glint in his eyes. She was determined to at the very least take down as many of his people as she could before giving him the satisfaction of her own death. 

"In the Maker's name, stop!" the Revered Mother cried out angrily. "We will have order." The sharp metallic sound of swords being sheathed echoed through the hall.

"Agreed," Eamon said after a moment. "Let there be no further bloodshed in the Landsmeet."

"Alistair's right to the throne is challenged, his challenger's honor is in doubt: in the past, such disputes were settled by a duel," the Revered Mother mediated. "Will the Landsmeet agree?"

"Yes, if it will avoid further bloodshed," Alfstanna agreed. "But it must be fought according to tradition: by strength of arms only, in single combat, until one party yields. Do you accept the terms?" 

"Alistair accepts," she said quickly. "I shall be his champion." She caught the look he gave her, but for the moment ignored it. 

"It is you or me the men will follow," Loghain said. "So let us fight for it. Prepare yourself." It was rather dramatic as everyone backed up and circled around them, setting the stage for their duel. It wasn't particularly easy, but Loghain was far from a challenge, after having fought the shapeshifter Flemeth.

"I underestimated you, Warden," he admitted as he fell to one knee. "I thought you were like Cailan, a child wanting to play at war. I was wrong. There's a strength in you that I have not seen anywhere since Maric died. I yield." He stood slowly. Elyssa's eyes narrowed in another glare. He had supported Howe's attack on Highever Castle, betrayed King Cailan and tried to blame his death on the Wardens. 

"My childhood ended the day Rendon Howe betrayed my father and had everyone in Highever castle murdered," she said coldly. "You will die for what you've done."

"Wait! There is another option," Riordan said, appearing from one of the side doors, as Anora had before. "The teyrn is a warrior and general of renown. Let him be of use. Let him go through the Joining." 

"You want to make him a Warden? After what he did to us? Why?" Elyssa asked. There was no way she could make herself work with someone who had not only allowed, but supported Howe's attack on Highever Castle. And then had given Highever to the bastard. 

"There are **three** of us in all of Ferelden," he reminded her. "And there are… compelling reasons to have as many Wardens on hand as possible to deal with the archdemon." Elyssa raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. It sounded like there was something he hadn't told them. Like that was a surprise. 

"The Joining itself is often fatal, is it not?" Anora asked. "If he survives, you gain a general. If not, you have your revenge. Doesn't that satisfy you?" Elyssa wasn't afraid to glare hard at Anora now. Niceties aside, it was most likely Anora's betrayal that had left them at a loss earlier. Besides, no one just _became_ a general in the Wardens by surviving the Joining. Everyone had to start at the same level and work their way up the ranks. 

"Absolutely not!" Alistair protested. "Riordan, this man abandoned our brothers and then blamed us for the deed! He hunted us down like animals. He tortured you! How can we simply forget that?"

"No," Elyssa agreed. "I will not trust the fate of Ferelden to him. Loghain will die for his crimes." Her voice was icy, dangerously sharp and hard. Enough to remind every noble in the room just what she'd been through, and that she was no longer a child to be toyed with. She was a warrior who had fought hard to be where she was, and it was time everyone in the hall knew it. 

"You can't do this!" Anora protested. "My father may have been wrong, but he is still a hero to the people." 

"Anora, hush," Loghain said to her, sounding calmer than Elyssa had ever heard him. "It's over." 

"Stop treating me like a child, this is serious."

"Daughters never grow up, Anora," Loghain continued. "They remain six years old with pigtails and skinned knees forever." He turned to look at Elyssa. "Just make it quick, Warden. I can face the Maker, knowing Ferelden is in your hands." 

"Very well." It was a small mercy, but the only one she could offer. Loghain had been a great man once, and she wasn't like those she had come to despise. She wouldn't draw out his death for her own satisfaction. She pulled out her sword, Starfang, and approached Loghain. He dropped to one knee and lowered his gaze. Finally... Finally, his treachery was revealed. Justice had been served, and she had fulfilled her revenge on the men who had destroyed her family. She placed Starfang's edge against the back of the traitor's neck and drew the blade through. 

"So it is decided," Eamon said once Loghain was dead and his body had been removed from the hall. "Alistair will take his father's throne."

"Wait, what?" Alistair said. "No! When did this get decided? Nobody's decided that, have they?"

"He refuses the throne," Anora said, jumping on his words. "Everyone here has heard him. I think it's clear, then, that he abdicates in favor of me." 

_He didn't say that either,_ Elyssa wanted to say.

"I hardly think you are the appropriate person to mediate this Anora," Eamon said, a slight edge to his voice. He turned to Elyssa. "Warden, will you help us?"

"Yes, I can settle this," she said, stepping forward. 

"As the arbiter of this dispute, what is your decision?" Eamon said formally. "Who will lead Ferelden?"

Elyssa met Alistair's eyes, and her own features softened. "Alistair shall be king, and, if he shall have me, I will stand at his side," she announced. It was possibly her only chance. If he was made king alone, his station would come between them. And her heart ached at the thought. 

"Really?" he asked. "You will?" He sounded stunned. "This is where I wake up, usually. Or everyone points and laughs because I have no clothes on…" Ah, yes, there was her lovable goofball. 

"Anora, the Landsmeet has decided against you," Eamon announced. "You must now swear fealty to our king, and relinquish all claim to the throne for yourself and your heirs."

"If you think I will swear that oath, Eamon, you know nothing of me," Anora objected. 

"Anora, be reasonable," Elyssa said in an attempt to talk her down.

"Reason clearly had nothing to do with **your** choice, Warden." Oops. 

"We cannot leave Ferelden in a state of civil war," Eamon said quickly, much to Elyssa's relief. "We must have unity. If she will not swear fealty to you, Alistair, and renounce her claim to the throne, she is a threat to us all."

"Put her in the tower for now," Alistair decided. "If I fall against the Blight, then she can have her throne. If not… then we'll see." It was a smart decision, but Elyssa wasn't surprised. She knew how smart he could be.

"You would give me a chance for the throne, after all this?" Anora asked, all anger in her voice replaced by curiosity.

"I said if I fall, Anora," he reminded her. "If I fall, the throne falls to you. I won't kill you while there's a chance that can happen. Somebody has to treat this Blight seriously." Elyssa gave him a look that said she was going to bring that up later. Like she hadn't been taking the Blight seriously? 

_Who was it that united the races against this, again?_ Elyssa sighed.

"That is uncharacteristically wise of you," Anora responded. Elyssa knew otherwise, of course, but said nothing.

"Yes, well, don't let it get around," Alistair said, returning to his usual joking self. "I have a reputation." 

"Very well, then. Guards! Take her away," Eamon said. A pair of guards came toward her, and Anora went with them without struggle. "Your Highness, would you address the Landsmeet," Eamon said to Alistair once she was gone.

"Oh… that must be me. Right. Um…" Alistair walked forward so he was standing to Elyssa's right, and slightly in front. "I never knew him, but from all I've heard of my father, what defined him was his commitment to protecting the Land." Uh oh. 

"Just tell them what they need to do," she whispered to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Everyone, get ready to march," he announced, sounding much more sure of himself. "It's going to take all Ferelden's strength to survive this Blight. But we will face it. And we will defeat it." There was plenty of cheering from the nobles, and soon enough they all disbursed to their respective estates around the city. Alistair turned to Elyssa, a serious look on his face that she'd only seen a few times before. "We'd better get going," he told her. "Ferelden is depending on us."

Elyssa left with the others to return to Eamon's estate while Alistair remained at the palace for a while, ironing out a few details. He returned to find her in the dining room, surrounded by their friends who were busily hounding her for details about what had happened at the Landsmeet. When he entered, the others basically scattered, wearing grins that varied from knowing to downright smug, save Shale and her hound Kenai of course. 

"So… strange story, tell me if you've heard this one," he said when they were alone. "This fellow gets made king and then gets engaged all on the same night." 

"You're… not angry, are you?" Elyssa asked, glancing nervously away. 

"I'm actually fine with becoming king," he admitted. "I've had some time to come to terms with that. I suppose there's some good I could even do. I suppose I'm more curious about… you know, this engagement. I **like** the idea, but… are you sure?"

She looked up, smiling softly. "Am I sure I want to marry you?" she countered, then nodded. "Yes, actually."

"Oh, I guess that saves me having to ask, then," he joked. "Whew!" Elyssa laughed softly. "They'll expect an heir, you know," he continued, looking serious again. "With the taint in our blood, it's hard enough for a Grey Warden to have a child on their own. For two of them…? Every Grey Warden I knew who had children had them before they took the Joining. Having an heir… might not be possible."

Right. That was important. Instead of showing her true discomfort at this, she gave one of her half-grins. "Well, it won't be for lack of trying," she said playfully. 

"That's an excellent point," he said with a grin of his own. "Good thing we got started when we did, hm?" He got serious again. "I suppose this is something we'll just have to deal with later. My coronation isn't going to happen for some time yet… and we still have the darkspawn to fight." She nodded. "Arl Eamon has left for Redcliff, and he says the armies have almost finished gathering there. We should go to Redcliff as soon as possible. If we don't deal with the Archdemon soon, it'll get cranky. And nobody wants that," he added, cracking yet another smile before leaving. 

They were about to get into the fight of their lives, and yet, Elyssa's heart had never felt lighter.


	57. Warden's Truth and Morrigan's Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I kinda fuzzied a bit of this one cause I wanted a little more drama around the archdemon.

For some reason, it didn't take them as long to get back to Redcliffe as it had to get from there to Denerim. Probably because Loghain was no longer hanging over their heads. The trip there was relatively uneventful, until they arrived to find Redcliffe already under siege by the darkspawn.

"It's… it's you! The Grey Warden!" a villager called out to them as they neared. "Andraste's mercy that you got here when you did! I thought for sure those monsters were going to get me!"

"When did the darkspawn get here?" she asked quickly. 

"Just a few hours ago, not long after everyone was evacuated into the castle," the man explained. "I thought I could make it to my home and back before they got here, but it took me too long to get down here. What a relief you arrived!"

"Are there more darkspawn at the castle?" She could tell by the level of buzzing in her head that the archdemon wasn't nearby, which was a little unnerving.

"By now, yes, they'd have reached the castle walls. I'm going to get out of here before any more of those things arrive," he said before running back up the hill. Elyssa led her party down the hill to clear the darkspawn from the village before heading to the castle. They found the gates swarmed with hurlocks and a pair of emissaries, which they quickly dispatched just in time to be faced by an Ogre Alpha. It was, of course, also killed.

"My lady! You're here!" one of the Redcliffe castle guards said once the ogre was dead. "Thank goodness."

"Did the darkspawn get into the castle?" she asked quickly.

"Some did, yes, but we were able to close the gates and kill the ones in the courtyard," the guard reported. "I was told to watch for your arrival, Warden. Your comrade, Riordan, arrived just ahead of the darkspawn attack. He has urgent news for you!"

"Riordan? What's he doing here?"

"I don't rightly know!" the guard admitted. "Things happened so fast, I only know he was scouting in the south before he arrived."

"Take me inside," she ordered. "There must be no more delays!"

"I should take you into the hall right away, my lady. They'll be waiting for you there." She nodded and followed the guard into Redcliffe Castle, with Alistair and her companions close behind. 

"It is a relief to see you unharmed," Riordan said when they entered the main hall. "And you as well Alistair… of should I say Your Majesty?"

"Err… no. No, I wouldn't say that. Not yet, anyway," Alistair said after a moment. 

"The darkspawn that attacked Redcliffe were relatively few in number," Riordan informed them. Thinking back, Elyssa noticed the same thing. "It was assumed the horde was marching in this direction… but that is not true."

"Riordan tells us--" Eamon began, cut off by the sudden splitting sensation in Elyssa's head. She gasped and squeezed her eyes shut, stumbling into Alistair as both hands went to her temples. She felt his hands on her shoulders and heard his worried voice, and the voices of several others, but they were drowned out by what she was seeing. 

The horde was enormous. She knew where each one was by the trains of thought that traveled between herself and each one of her minions. The roar in her vision was echoed by a shriek of pain in the real world. Nothing was very clear, until her eyes alighted on something in the distance. The walls of Denerim. Horror filled her human heart as she felt the wind fill her wings… And that sensation was strange enough to snap her out of the vision.

"Easy, easy," she heard a voice say. "I think she's coming back." Her head was pounding in the aftermath of what she'd seen, and when her eyes fluttered open the flickering firelight just made it worse. She groaned and forced her eyes closed again, before her vision could clear enough to see where she was. She could feel that she was in someone's arms, a familiar, strong grip that helped ease the fear that had taken root in her heart.

"What just happened?" she heard Eamon's voice ask.

"I have heard that certain parts of being a Warden are often harder for those who join during a Blight," Riordan explained. "Though the last Blight was so long ago none remain who remember." Elyssa forced her eyes open again, despite the pain that shot through her skull.

"Are you alright?" Alistair asked softly. She was in his arms, cradled gently yet securely, and he'd gotten to his knees after catching her earlier. She tried sitting up, but a bout of nausea overwhelmed her and she fell back into his arms. 

"I… I saw it…" she breathed. "The horde… I think was inside the archdemon's head." She looked over at Riordan, who was standing back a ways. "The Archdemon… the horde. They're not coming here. They're moving toward Denerim." 

"Yes," Eamon confirmed. "They are perhaps two days away from the capitol.

"What?" Alistair asked softly. "Are we sure about that? I mean… if that's true…"

"I ventured close enough to 'listen in' as it were," Riordan told them. "And this… episode of hers confirms it. I am quite certain."

"Has word been sent to Denerim?" Elyssa asked, managing to swallow the nausea long enough to sit up and brace herself with one arm. Alistair kept a hand on her back, just in case. 

"Word has been sent, but they need more than warning. They need our armies." Eamon was right. But after that fit or whatever it'd been, was she fit to march?

"There is, I'm afraid, one other piece of news that is of even greater concern," Riordan admitted, walking toward the fire. "The archdemon has shown itself. The dragon is at the head of the horde."

"I thought I made that clear earlier?" Elyssa said. "I was in its head, and it saw Denerim. That's how I knew where it was going." 

"But we can't reach Denerim within two days, can we?" Alistair reminded them all. "It's too far."

"We must begin a forward march to the capitol immediately, with what we have," Eamon decided. "Denerim must be defended at all costs." 

"Because if Denerim falls, it'll take Ferelden with it…" Elyssa said with a sigh. "We've gathered an army--let's use it."

"The horde must be defeated, but the archdemon is our true target," Riordan informed her. "And only the Grey Wardens can defeat the archdemon. That is why we must go." 

"Then we march," Alistair agreed, "and hope the army we've collected here gives us the chance we need. Arl Eamon, how long before the army can set out?" he asked, standing.

"By daybreak."

"Good, because I don't think I can march with this headache anyway…" Elyssa muttered. Sympathetic looks were cast in her direction, but nothing was said.

"Then let's get them ready," Alistair said. "I won't let all those people die without giving them a chance."

"Then we're off to war," Elyssa said, slowly getting to her feet. Alistair reached down to help, a hand that she gladly accepted. "Let's do it." The nausea had faded, and all she was left with now was a pounding headache that would hopefully go away in the morning. 

"I will give the orders at once, and we will notify you the moment we are ready to march," Eamon promised.

"That would be appreciated," Alistair said with a nod.

"Then if you and Alistair could meet me before you retire, we have Grey Warden business to discuss," Riordan requested. 

"I will have someone show you to your rooms," Eamon said. "I suggest you all get some rest, while you can. We will need it."

"I'll speak to the others before meeting you upstairs," Elyssa said to Alistair and Riordan. "Let them know what's happening." The other Wardens nodded and made their way to the rooms, while Elyssa went across to the next hall to explain the situation to the rest of her companions. What was first voiced, by Wynne and Leliana, was concern for her. Apparently her shriek earlier had echoed through the first floor. 

"I'll be fine," she said. "There's more important business. The archdemon has shown itself and is going to storm Denerim in just a few days. We leave at daybreak, so you should all get some rest. And keep your face out of the tankard tonight, Oghren, I need all of you at your best." Her features softened, as did her voice with her next words. "Get some rest tonight. It's going to be a hard march to get to Denerim in time to save it." She left it at that and made her way upstairs. She wasn't in the mood for discussion tonight.

"There you are," Alistair said when Elyssa finally made it up the stairs. "Let's go see what Riordan has to say." Elyssa nodded and knocked on the door before pushing it open. 

"You're both here, good," he said when the door closed behind them. "You are new to the Grey Wardens, and you may not have been told how an archdemon is slain. I need to know if that is so."

"You mean there's more to it than just, say, chopping its head off?" Alistair asked. Elyssa rolled her eyes.

"My Joining was only hours before the battle at Ostagar," she told the senior Warden. "There wasn't much time for Duncan to tell me all the secrets. When I asked him about the possibility of the archdemon appearing there, he just told us to leave it to the others."

"So it is true. Duncan had not told you yet," Riordan concluded. "I had simply assumed…" He sighed softly. "Tell me. Have you ever wondered why Grey Wardens are needed to defeat the darkspawn?"

"I assume it has something to do with the taint in us," she guessed. She had also guessed that Grey Wardens were immune to the taint because they already had it.

"That is exactly what it involves," Riordan confirmed. "The archdemon may be slain like any other darkspawn, but should any other than a Grey Warden do the slaying, it will not be enough. The essence of the beast will pass through the taint to the nearest darkspawn and will be reborn anew in that body. The dragon is thus all but immortal." Elyssa's face began to pale as she guessed where this was going. She didn't like this at all. "But if the archdemon is slain by a Grey Warden… its essence travels into the Grey Warden instead."

"And… what happens to the Warden…?" Elyssa asked softly, her voice shaking. 

"A darkspawn is an empty, soulless vessel, but a Grey Warden is not. The essence of the archdemon is destroyed… and so is the Grey Warden," he said confirming her fears. 

"Meaning… the Grey Warden who kills the archdemon… dies?" Alistair asked with disbelief. 

"Yes. Without the archdemon, the Blight ends," Riordan said. "It is the only way." 

"So it's up to the three of us to kill this thing," Elyssa said with a soft sigh. 

"In Blights past, when the time came the eldest of the Grey Wardens would decide which amongst them would take that final blow," Riordan explained. "If possible, the final blow should be mine to make. I am the eldest, and the taint will not spare me much longer. But if I fail, the deed falls on you. The Blight must be stopped now or it will destroy all of Ferelden before the rest of the Grey Wardens can assemble. Remember that. But enough," he said suddenly, turning away. "There is much to do tomorrow and little enough time to rest before it. I will let you return to your rooms." Elyssa swallowed hard, unable to speak any more.

"I will see you once the army is ready to march, then," Alistair said. Elyssa marveled at his ability to stay so calm in this situation. She could've sworn her heart was trying to tear itself in two. "I guess this ends soon. One way or another."

"That it does, my friend," Riordan agreed. "That it does." Alistair left, and Elyssa followed. Though she was surprised to find someone standing by the fire when she opened the door to her room.

"Do not be alarmed," Morrigan said. "It is only I."

"Morrigan? Is everything alright?" she asked after a moment, keeping her voice carefully even after the shock Riordan had just given her. 

"I am well. Tis you who are in danger." Had she overheard? "I have a plan, you see. A way out. The loop in your hole." She didn't sound all that happy. In fact, Elyssa could swear her friend sounded sad. "I know what happens when the archdemon dies. I know a Grey Warden must be sacrificed, and that sacrifice could be you." She turned and walked toward Elyssa, stopping within arm's reach. "I have come to tell you this does not need to be." 

"Does not need to be?" Elyssa echoed. "What do you mean?" She couldn't help the trickle of hope that worked its way into her heart. Was there really a way for the archdemon to die without being killed alongside it?

"I offer a way out," Morrigan said again. "A way out for all the Grey Wardens, that there need be no sacrifice. A ritual, performed on the eve of battle, in the dark of night." 

"Nothing comes without a price," Elyssa said softly, glancing away. 

"Perhaps," Morrigan agreed. "But that price need not be so unbearable, especially if there is much to be gained. All I ask is that you listen to what I have to offer, nothing more."

"Very well. What is your plan?" she asked. 

"What I propose is this: convince Alistair to lay with me. Here, tonight. And from this ritual a child shall be conceived within me." She walked from the fireplace and sat on the bed. "That child will bear the taint, and when the archdemon is slain, its essence will seek the child like a beacon. At this early stage, the child can absorb the essence and not perish. The archdemon is still destroyed, with no Grey Warden dying in the process."

"So the child becomes a darkspawn?" Elyssa asked, more than a little confused. Yes, she knew now how darkspawn made more, but this just didn't sound right. 

"Not at all," Morrigan explained gently. "It will become something different: a child born with the soul of an Old God. After this is done, you allow me to walk away… and you do not follow. Ever. The child will be mine to raise as I wish."

"How do you even know this will work?"

"This is what my mother intended when she sent me with you," Morrigan said. So there had been a purpose to it after all. "She was the one who first gave me this ritual and told me of what I was meant to do. This does not surprise you, does it? Did you not wonder why Flemeth saved your life, why she aided you? This is why. What is important is that I am offering it to you now. It will work and it will save your life."

"Wait… I want to know more about this child," Elyssa admitted. 

"As you wish."

"What do you intend to do with the child?" Alistair was to become king. Elyssa wanted to believe Morrigan wasn't the type of person to use a child as a bargaining chip.

"I do not wish to tell you."

"I see…"

"Then you have decided?"

"Alright," Elyssa said with a soft sigh. "I agree. I'll do it." 

"A wise decision," Morrigan said, standing again. "I shall wait here while you go and speak with Alistair. I urge you to be convincing." 

Elyssa knocked on Alistair's door before opening it, making sure the door latched behind her.

"I see you couldn't sleep either," he said. "I also saw Morrigan outside your room earlier, and the look she gave me… that was icy even for her. Is something up?"

"You couldn't sleep? Are you alright?" she asked, worried. Despite everything, she did love him. Even if there was a chance that she was about to lose him.

"Not really," he admitted. "All these men look at me and… I see it in their eyes. I'm their king. Suddenly it feels so real. But now you're changing the subject," he realized, a hint of sadness in his voice. "This isn't about me, this is about Morrigan. I'm tired but I'm not stupid. What did she want?" Elyssa sighed and grasped each arm at the elbows, an attempt to keep herself together that Alistair had not seen in months. 

"Alistair, we… need to talk," Elyssa said with a sigh. 

"Oh. I guess whatever Morrigan had to say, it's big." Elyssa nodded, glancing away. "This is what I get for becoming king? Everyone always brings you the bad news. So what is it then? Rats running amok? Cheese supplies run low? I can take it." 

"I love you, Alistair," she said suddenly. "You know that, right?" 

"Could you make it sound more ominous?" he countered, raising an eyebrow. "Tell me already." 

"What if I told you… there's a way to avoid dying tomorrow?" 

"You mean with the archdemon, right?" he asked hesitantly. "If you mean running away, I can't do that. But you don't mean that, do you? What is this about?"

"I… I need you to take part in a ritual," she said, slightly evasively. Getting to the part about the child was not going to be easy.

"Oh? Something Morrigan cooked up, no doubt. What do you need me to do?" Elyssa kept her gaze directed at the floor. Without the armor, she looked much less intimidating. 

"I need you…" She hesitated, took a breath, and then said everything all at once. "I need you to sleep with her." She squeezed her eyes shut. It was worth her future husband sleeping with another woman if it meant neither of them had to die to kill the archdemon.

He just laughed and leaned against the bedpost. "Cute. This is payback, right? For all the jokes?" She opened her eyes and looked over at him, and what he saw there surprised him. "But… you're not joking," he realized, standing straight again. "You're actually serious. Wow, be killed by the archdemon or sleep with Morrigan. How does someone make that kind of choice?" He looked at her skeptically. "You're not actually asking me this, are you? What kind of ritual is this, anyway?"

"I… won't lie to you," she said, still hesitant. She knew he wouldn't like it, not least because he grew up without knowing his father, but she couldn't stand to lose anyone else she loved. "It will… produce a child."

"What?!" She flinched when he raised his voice. "I must be hearing things," he said, quieter this time. "Are you telling me to **impregnate** Morrigan in some kind of magical sex rite?!" She flinched again. Yeah, she'd expected this. That didn't make it any easier to deal with. "This… child… why would Morrigan want such a thing? Does she want an heir to the throne?"

"All she told me is that you will never see it," Elyssa assured him. 

"Right until it marches up with an army to claim the throne, I'm sure," he said, disbelieving. He turned and walked away from her, sitting down on the far edge of the bed. "Look, even if I was willing to entertain the idea--and I'm not saying I am--is this really what you want me to do? Are you sure…?" 

She walked over to where he was sitting and sat next to him, placing her hands on his. Her hands were still shaking from her few minutes of getting dragged into the archdemon's mind as well as his outbursts earlier. "Do you trust me?" she asked softly. She would likely never be sure about her decision to do this, but if it really would save them, then it would be worth it. 

"I do trust you," he said with a resigned sigh. "If this is what you think is best… I'll do it." He didn't sound like he really wanted to, but Elyssa trusted Morrigan at least to the point of what the ritual was supposed to do. He groaned and stood. "Where is she? Let's go and get this over with before I… change my mind." She stood and took his hand in hers, leading him to the room she'd originally been given. Where Morrigan was waiting.

"T'would seem your talk is done?" Morrigan asked when she heard them enter.

"Great, so this wasn't a dream after all," Alistair muttered. 

_I'm sorry, Alistiar, but this is better than being faced with your death,_ Elyssa apologized silently. _Or you being faced with mine…_

"What is it to be, then?" Morrigan asked. "Has a decision been reached?"

"Alistair has agreed to your… ritual," Elyssa told her. 

"Wait," he said quickly. "I want to ask about this child. The one you… want."

"Interesting. Honesty wouldn't have been my first choice," Morrigan admitted.

"I just want to be sure you're not going to use this… against Ferelden," Alistair said. "That this bastard child of mine isn't going to show up some year…"

"Of that, you have my word," Morrigan promised. 

"Why don't I feel any better about this?" Alistair sighed. "Alright. Let's… just get this over with."

"Let us go somewhere more private, Alistair," Morrigan suggested. "And believe me when I say you will not hate this quite as much as you believe." Elyssa wasn't entirely sure where they'd gone, probably one of the other guest rooms, but instead of trying to sleep she waited up for Alistair in his own room. When he returned, he was more than a little surprised to see her. 

"You waited for me?" he asked, placing the armor on the stand. Wordlessly, Elyssa stood and clung to the fabric of his tunic. "Woah, hey, are you alright?" 

"Have you ever gotten one of those feelings… that tells you that you may not get another chance at something?" she asked, her voice muffled by the fact that she had buried her face in his tunic. He wrapped his arms around her, marveling at how small she really was without all that armor.

"Is this because I yelled earlier?" he asked. "I'm sorry for that, I just…"

"I know," she muttered. "I can guess why, too. But… I just can't stand the thought of losing another person I love." She felt him kiss the top of her head, and finally looked up at him. "We don't know whether we'll both make it to the archdemon. And… If this is our last night, I want to spend it with you." 

"As if I would ever turn you away, my love," he responded, this time pressing a kiss to her lips.


	58. The Battle of Denerim

Thankfully, Elyssa's headache was gone when the sky began to change color the next morning. Her companions, save Alistair, were already awake and packed when the two of them came downstairs with Riordan. Eamon was already there, armored and ready. They set off when the sun broke across the horizon. Redcliffe's soldiers had already begun to move. 

"We have gathered all the forces we can," Eamon said to her as they prepared for departure, Eamon having provided horses for Elyssa and her companions so they could reach the capitol that much faster. "The darkspawn horde is sure to reach the capitol before us, and so we must race to Denerim as quickly as we can. The lives of many thousands hang in the balance. We must not forsake them." Elyssa swung a leg over and mounted her horse. Kenai, she knew, would be perfectly able to keep up with their mounts. "You have gathered an army to replace the one lost at Ostagar, Grey Warden. Let us pray that it will be enough."

Even as Eamon's men marched from Redcliffe, Elyssa knew there would be an army of dwarves from Orzammar, led by King Bhelen. The mages from the Circle would come as well, under the direction of First Enchanter Irving. And the Dalish would be joining them as well, though under whom even Elyssa couldn't guess. 

When they finally stood just beyond Denerim, they laid eyes on the full might of the horde. It was almost more terrifying than when Elyssa had seen it in the Dead Trenches. At least back then it had been underground. Now it was on the surface, and the archdemon was somewhere in that mess. 

She and Alistair stood before the army they'd gathered, and Alistair climbed the steps of a nearby windmill so all could see him. Elyssa followed him to the steps, watching carefully.

"Before us stands the might of the darkspawn horde!" Alistair announced to the army. "Gaze upon them now, but fear them not!" He motioned to her, and she took that as her signal to climb. "This woman beside me is a native of Ferelden, risen to the ranks of the Grey Wardens! She is proof that glory is within reach of us all! She has survived the odds, and without her, none of us would be here!" Well, it was nice to finally have her efforts recognized. Alistair started to descend, and she followed behind him. "Today, we save Denerim! Today, we avenge the death of my brother, King Cailan! But most of all, today we show the Grey Wardens that we remember and honor their sacrifice!"

 _A far better speech than that attempt at the Landsmeet,_ Elyssa decided, a hint of a smile playing about her lips. 

"For Ferelden! For the Grey Wardens!" he finished, and a cheer went up from the army. 

"For Ferelden!" Elyssa echoed, joining her voice with the others. And with that, the charge began. The horde was waiting for them at the gate, as expected. Riordan was on the front lines, and saw when the archdemon flew over the walls. With the sheer number of darkspawn, it took a while before they were able to storm the gate. And once they did, it was chaos. Elyssa's companions scattered as they fought, which only served to worry the Warden. She'd come to care for each of her companions. Wynne was almost like a mother to her. Zevran, Leliana, and Morrigan like siblings. Alistair was the love of her life, her fiancee and future husband. Oghren was… like that odd uncle every family seems to have. And Sten, well, Elyssa still wasn't entirely sure what to think about him. But she respected him. 

When the gate was clear, Riordan spoke to Elyssa again, with her companions gathered round her. "You've managed to fight your way to the gates," he observed. "We're doing better than I'd hoped. 

"That will change quickly," Sten said, positive as usual.

"Bloody nug runners!" Oghren swore. "We're outnumbered three to one!"

"What are we to do now Riordan?" Wynne asked, sounding much more calm than the dwarf had. "You have a plan, I assume?"

"The army will not last long, so we need to move quickly to reach the archdemon," he said, glancing in the direction he'd seen it fly off. "I suggest taking Alistair and no more than two others with you into the city," he said to Elyssa, turning to face them again. "Anyone you don't bring with you can remain here to prevent more darkspawn from entering Denerim on our tails."

"How are we supposed to fight a flying dragon?" she asked. Sure, she'd killed Flemeth who had turned into a dragon, but she hadn't flown away.

"We are going to need to reach a high point in the city. I'm thinking the top of Fort Drakon might work," he said. Elyssa groaned softly.

"And here I'd hoped I'd seen the last of that place," she muttered. 

"The top of…? You want to draw the dragon's attention?" Alistair asked. 

"We have little choice," Riordan reminded them. "Though I warn you that as soon as we engage the beast it will call all its generals to help it. I can sense two generals in Denerim. You may want to seek them out before engaging the archdemon."

I'm sure that if we did slay those generals, it would top the darkspawn in the city from doing a lot of harm!" Leliana chimed in. 

"It may also waste resources trying to find them," Riordan added. "The decision is up to you."

"Do you know where the generals are?" she asked. She wasn't good enough at the whole darkspawn sensing thing to tell much more than that they were surrounded by the horde, which was no help right now.

"Neither of them are near Fort Drakon currently, but there are too many darkspawn here to tell you more," Riordan admitted. She nodded. That was about what she'd been expecting. She wished she was better at sensing the darkspawn, all she could tell right now was that they were surrounded, which was no help at all. "There are already several units of our allies within the city by now. They may be able to come to your assistance if you call them, but their strength will be limited. Now, who do you wish to take with you into the city?" 

She had been thinking about this for a while. Alistair was for sure joining her, as was Morrigan. Two things had prompted her to choose Morrigan over Wynne. Morrigan had the child from the ritual, and Wynne's healing magic would be of more help at the gate. She had closed her eyes while thinking, and when she opened them again she knew who she was bringing with her.

"Alistair, Morrigan, and Zevran," she announced. 

"Fair enough," Riordan said in response. "Anyone else will need to remain here and assist in keeping more darkspawn from coming in the gates behind us. Who will lead them?"

"Sten," she decided. He made some comment agreeing with her.

"Good. That should be sufficient," Riordan said with a nod. "Nothing you have done has prepared you for what you face now. May the Maker watch over you."

"May he watch over us all," Elyssa echoed, an eerie familiarity settling over her. That was the exchange she and Alistair had with Duncan the day he died. Hopefully history would not repeat itself tonight. 

"Well, this is it Warden," Oghren said, standing before her. " _When from the blood of battle the stone has fed, let the heroes prevail and the blighter lie dead._ As one of the blighters, I sodding salute you. Let's show them our hearts, and then show them theirs." 

"So, the archdemon is next, is it?" Shayle said after a moment. "Part of me is glad that it has decided to leave me here at the gate, but the other part is… apprehensive? It's not that I'm worried about it perishing, necessarily. Let's face it: I will be alive long after it has turned to dust, anyhow. Still. Things have been so much more interesting since it activated me. Shame to end that, really." 

"Well, anything would be more interesting than being a statue," Elyssa commented with her usual half-grin.

"That is an excellent way to look at it." Shale paused. "Well, then. I suppose this is it? Have fun storming the castle."

Kenai came up to her next, whining and nosing at her hand. She got to one knee before him. "Don't worry, boy. I'll be back," she assured her hound. "I'm trusting you to protect the others, okay?" He barked a few times before walking off. 

"Are you ready?" Sten asked. "We have reached the battlefield at last."

"Thank you for your help, Sten," she said to the qunari.

"I have done nothing," he admitted. "You have carried us this far, do not doubt that." 

"So this is it… this is the end? We've come so far, it's strange knowing that all our fates will be decided in a matter of ours," Leliana mused. "I wish I could go with you."

"It is less dangerous here," Elyssa decided to say. 

"That is true," the redheaded bard agreed. "I will do what I can to help here. Be safe, friend, and may the Maker smile fortune on you." Elyssa shook her head with a soft laugh, then pulled Leliana in for a quick hug. 

"You stay safe too, alright?" she whispered. She let go before Leliana could answer.

"So now we head into the city together to face the archdemon, hmm?" Zevran said. "Good. I was nearly afraid you were about to march inside without me. We cannot have that! Let us go and teach this dragon a lesson, yes? That it should have stayed in whatever hole it crawled out of." 

"So, we head into the city together, as it should be," Morrigan said with a small smirk, which faded quickly. "Once this is done, no matter how it turns out I will be gone. You are aware of this, yes?"

"Then let me thank you now, for what you've done," Elyssa insisted. The fact that the child would keep anyone from having to die to kill the archdemon had sunk in, and Elyssa was glad that she could face it without having to worry about losing Alistair.

"You are most welcome," Morrigan said honestly. "It is, I think, the very least I could offer you." She sighed. "Allow me to say only one thing before we go. I knew nothing of friendship before we met," she said sadly. "And I will always consider you such."

"The feeling's mutual."

"Live well, my friend. Live gloriously," Morrigan finished. "Now, let us see this finally done. The archdemon awaits." 

Elyssa didn't realize it until that moment, but the rest of her companions had left her alone with Alistair. 

"So, this could be it," he said quietly. "Soon this will be finished, one way or another." She reached out and took his hand. 

"I love you, Alistair," she said softly. She looked up into his eyes, recognizing the desperation and sadness she saw in her own. There was no guarantee that Morrigan's ritual would work, or that they would even both make it to the archdemon alive. So many things could happen within the city. What was that saying her combat teacher had? Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. This was one of those times. 

"And I love you. Always," he promised. That was that. They were going into the city. 

It was only when she was making her way toward the gate that Elyssa realized just how many people were depending on them. On her. People depending on her to kill the archdemon and end the Blight. 

The market district was closest, so that was where they went first.

Three ogres and an emissary converged on the group as they entered the market. It was wrecked. The central plaza had been destroyed, as well as a number of buildings around it. It was difficult for Elyssa to even tell where anything had been. Hopefully nobody had been in their homes when the darkspawn horde first breached the gate. In fact, there were ogres all over the market. And as they neared the Chantry, something shifted in the buzzing in Elyssa's head. A glance at Alistair told her that he felt it too. It could only mean one thing, since Elyssa had seen the archdemon before. They had found one of the generals. 

With one general dead, the ogres stopped appearing. The next stop? To clear out the darkspawn in the Alienage. As Loghain had said before, the Alienage was the least defensible place in the city. Odds were that they needed help even more than the market had. 

"Y-you! It's you!" Shiani said when she saw them. "The Maker sure gave you the gift of good timing, didn't he. There's a large group of darkspawn approaching, and the gates won't hold! We need your help!"

"I'll handle this! Get yourselves to safety!" Elyssa told them.

"A-alright. I only hope there's time to-" A low growl interrupted her, followed by what sounded like something pounding on the gate. Probably another ogre. 

"They're breaking through!" one of the other elves said. 

"Run, all of you! Run for your lives!" Elyssa sent a quick prayer to the Maker that the destruction to the city was restricted to the buildings and they took their places by the gates. 

"Morrigan, do you think you can hit them from up there?" she asked, pointing to one of the platforms with a vantage to the gate.

"Is that a serious question?" the mage countered before making her way above.

The second general accompanied the first wave of darkspawn attacking the alienage. Once the darkspawn were dead and the Alienage secure, they were crossing the bridge when Elyssa stumbled due to the sudden headache. A headache that could only mean one thing. 

"Get down!" she ordered. They all jumped out of the way just as the archdemon came soaring by, destroying the bridge to the alienage. But now, there was only one place left to clear before they reached Fort Drakon. The Palace District. And somehow they had gotten this far without even calling for aid from the allied forces.

They arrived just in time to see Riordan jump from the top of a tower onto the archdemon's back, though they couldn't see how badly he wounded it. The dragon collided with another tower, and then they saw a spray of blood before it crash-landed on the top of Fort Drakon. They didn't see what happened to Riordan, but it was probably safe to assume that he wasn't going to be much help anymore.

"Guess it's up to us now," Elyssa muttered, leading her team into the palace district. She couldn't help but compare this to her first mission as a Warden. Climbing a tower to play a supposed key part in a battle. At the gates of Fort Drakon, Shrieks were added into the mess of genlocks, hurlocks, ogres, alphas, and emissaries. With the help of the mages, they were able to successfully gain access to Fort Drakon's courtyard. The elves assisted in the courtyard, though a few of them fell to the number of emissaries and shrieks. 

The first floor of Fort Drakon was covered in bodies. The staff and guards who had all been slain by the darkspawn. Further in, where Elyssa recognized from her brief time as prisoner, they were set upon by an emissary and its pet undead. And in the storage room, where she'd met the two she'd pretended to go out on patrol with, was a certain person surrounded by dead darkspawn, including an ogre.

Sandal. 

When Elyssa asked what happened, all he said was "Enchantment". So, she reasoned, there was no point in asking him again. They moved on to the second floor. 

"Have you noticed, Alistair?" she asked vaguely.

"Noticed what?"

"It's just like Ostagar," she told him. "Climbing a tower to save the day. Except this time we don't just have the king's army, we have the elves, the mages, and the dwarves too."

"This time, we will win," he assured her. They would win, she knew, because if they didn't the other Wardens in the Free Marches to the north and Orlais to the west wouldn't be able to come in time to save Ferelden. If Denerim was lost, so too was the country the called home.

The second floor was a bit of a maze, but not one that couldn't be navigated. An impressive metal door hid behind it some sort of meeting room. On the far side, a door led to the tower's stairwell. She paused before it, getting that same _last chance_ feeling she'd gotten earlier. She turned to her companions, a sad smile on her face. 

"Whatever happens up there, know it was an honor to fight at your side." Before they could respond, she pushed the door open and made for the rooftop, where the archdemon awaited. 

When they got there, they saw the dragon's purple flame take out a number of the king's soldiers. Arrows that didn't pierce its hide clattered to the ground, and men were quickly lost to the sweeping tail. Finally, she was facing the beast that had haunted her dreams for months. The beast whose eyes she'd seen through their last night in Redcliffe. It was time for the archdemon to die.

The battle was hard, made even more difficult by the darkspawn the archdemon called. But, thanks to the dwarves keeping the darkspawn back, Elyssa's team was able to defeat the archdemon. It collapsed, obviously struggling, when Elyssa plunged Starfang into the beast's skull. This set off some sort of energy wave, knocking all of them back and knocking her out. They didn't know it at the time, but this served as a sort of signal to the darkspawn armies below, and their ranks broke. 

And then, it was over.

With the archdemon dead, the darkspawn horde quickly crumbled. Most fled back into the Deep Roads. The Blight had been ended before it had truly begun.

"Elyssa! Elyssa!" a voice called to her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she slowly sat up. "Good, you're alright," said a very relieved voice. It took a moment for her to realize that it was Alistair's. Morrigan's ritual had worked after all. They were alive. She looked up at the archdemon's body, a soft laugh bubbling up from her throat. 

"We did it," she said softly. "We actually did it. The archdemon is dead. We've won." She looked over at Alistair. "We won." 

It really was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do note that the companion dialogue is dependent on whether you're taking the character with you or not. And possibly on approval level as well.


	59. The Hero of Ferelden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stories already say she ended the Blight single-handedly. Of course that's not true. No good hero does anything without someone helping them.

It had taken two weeks to get Denerim even decently cleaned up after the battle. Of course, Ferelden's new king and his fiancee helped out as much as they could. Elyssa Cousland was declared Hero of Ferelden for her part in defeating the Blight, for, as Alistair had said to the troops the day of the battle, none of it would've been possible without her. All of Elyssa's companions, save Morrigan, stayed to assist with the clean-up. Even Sten stuck around. Though Elyssa saw less of them during the weeks between her slaying the archdemon and Alistair's coronation.

The day before the coronation ceremony, she was in her room in the palace inspecting her armor when she heard a knock on the door. 

"Come in," she called, putting the armor piece on her new dresser. It was strange being surrounded by such opulence again. 

"Hello, my love," Alistair said when the door opened. 

"Hello, my dear," she responded, returning the embrace he pulled her into. "Which nobles did you meet with today?"

"Bann Alfstana came by today on her way back south," he reported. "I thanked her once again for her support in helping clear Howe's remaining troops out of Highever. A lot of the arls are here to see the coronation, and the recognition of you as Hero of Ferelden." 

"Well, I did do good work," she said with a hint of smugness to her voice. It was replaced with a soft sigh.

"What's wrong?" he asked, pulling away just enough to look into her eyes. 

"I can't be Highever's teyrn once we are married," she reminded him. "You'll have to find someone else to be teyrn."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, a knowing smile on his lips.

"What are you…?" She fell silent when she saw who else was in the doorway, eyes widening in surprise. He looked a bit ragged, but he was alive. She ran the few feet that separated them and threw her arms around his neck. "Fergus!" she cried happily. He caught her with a soft laugh. 

"So you survived after all," he said, hugging her close. "Thank the Maker."

"I thought… I thought…" She tried to speak, but broke down into tears instead. A small, kind smile formed on her elder brother's lips. 

"It's alright, little sister," he said comfortingly. "I'm here. I'm alive, and so are you. And doing quite well for yourself, if I may be so bold." This caused her to jerk her head up and glare through her tears.

"You ass!" she said, pushing on his chest. "I thought you were dead!"

"Well, I had fallen ill," he admitted. "Not with the blight, mind, but I had a high fever for weeks. By the time I came out of it, you were already marching to Denerim to take on the Archdemon." She clung to the front of Fergus's tunic. "Mother and Father would be so proud of you," he said gently. "You almost single-handedly saved Ferelden twice over. How many people can claim that?" He glanced across the room at Alistair, who was putting the stray armor bits onto the stand for her. "And you've found a man to tame your wild heart after all."

"If Mother'd had it her way, I probably would've married Dairren," she said with a laugh. Then she faked a shudder. "Or Thomas! Can you imagine?" Fergus chuckled softly. 

"You definitely seem to like getting everyone's attention," he agreed. She pushed against his chest again. "What? You're engaged to the king. What was I supposed to think?" She rolled her eyes and wiped her cheeks. "Congratulations on that, by the way." He was trying to joke around like they had before, but she could see that none of his smiles ever reached his eyes. 

"Thanks," she said with a laugh. She turned back to Alistair, who was, for once, without armor. "Thank you, Alistair," she said with a huge smile. "You have no idea how much this means to me!" 

"It was nothing, really," he said with a shrug. 

"It's not nothing," she insisted, returning to his side and taking his hand. She knew why he did it. Because he hadn't grown up with his own brother. Because he'd wanted to be sure of what happened to hers. She smiled up at him, one of the prettiest smiles he'd ever seen. "This is the greatest gift you could ever give me. Thank you." She pressed her lips to his cheek, then returned her attention to her brother. "You'll stay for the coronation before you go back to Highever, right?" she asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."  
_______________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, all the nobles had gathered to witness the coronation of their new king. Elyssa was there in her new armor, and she knew her companions were scattered around somewhere. They all watched as Alistair ascended the steps to the throne, then knelt before the Revered Mother, who gave her blessing and said the traditional words before greeting him again as the new King. A cheer went up from the nobility, and Elyssa couldn't help the soft smile that came to her face when their eyes met. 

That afternoon, after most of the nobility had left, they had a slightly more private ceremony.

"My friends, we are gathered to celebrate those responsible for our victory," Alistair said from the top of the steps. Eamon was behind him and to his right. Elyssa was at the center, at the base of the steps, with Fergus to her left and her companions on her right. "Of those who stood against the darkspawn siege of Denerim, there is one in particular who deserves commendation. The one who led the final charge against the archdemon remains with us still, an inspiration to all she saved that day." Elyssa took this as her cue and began climbing the steps to meet him. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I formally present my betrothed, who will soon be your queen. Elyssa Cousland, Hero of Ferelden." A cheer went up from those gathered, and Elyssa smiled softly up at her future husband. "My friend, it is hard to imagine how you could have aided Ferelden more. I think it only appropriate that I return the favor. As a reward, and as an engagement present," he added in a whisper, "I offer you a boon of your choice." The smile faded from her lips, and the steely look returned to her eye. Alistair guessed what she would ask for before she said anything. 

"I ask that the Howes pay for what they did to my family," she said. 

"The Howes are hereby stripped of their titles and fortune, and will be investigated as to their involvement in the Highever attack," he promised. Highever had already been reclaimed, but there was more to be done if the true reason behind it was to be discovered. Was it really just because Rendon Howe was a jealous bastard? "Highever itself is of course restored to your family… namely, your brother Fergus, since he was found safe and sound near the Korcari Wilds," he continued, motioning with one hand to where Fergus stood. He turned and faced those who had gathered, and so she did as well. "Let it also be known that the arling of Amaranthine, once the land of Arl Howe, is now granted to the Grey Wardens. There they can rebuild, following the example of those who came before them." He turned to look at her, speaking more softly this time so only she could hear. "What are your plans? I assume with the wedding you will be remaining in Ferelden?"

"I think you'll need my help navigating the noble courts," she said with that half-grin he'd come to love. 

"Well, I didn't want to come right out and **say** it… but I'm relieved you'll be nearby," he admitted. "There's a group of Ferelden citizens waiting outside to get a look at their hero. I suggest you make at least a brief appearance before they storm the gate." They both laughed at that. Elyssa was, admittedly, still running on relief that the archdemon was finally dead. "Just tell the guard at the door when you're ready." 

Instead of making her way back down, she took his hand once the others had disbursed. "So, we made it," he said with a laugh. "I'm impressed, aren't you?" He met her gaze, relief still filling them. "I was so scared I might lose you, but… here you are. And here I am. Not bad, right? I guess Morrigan was telling the truth after all. About the… ritual. The rest of the Grey Wardens haven't arrived yet from Orlais, but they've already sent… questions. What should I tell them?"

"You could tell them the truth?" she suggested, the slight upturn to her voice on the last word making it seem like a less-than-serious suggestion. 

"That a malificar saved you and then ran off to have my demon baby? That has a certain ring to it, right?" he joked. Elyssa hit his shoulder. 

"Morrigan wasn't a blood mage," she insisted. 

"No, I suppose I'll just keep that to myself. I can shrug and look stupid. It's a talent." That was one joke that didn't go over well with his bride-to-be. "Speaking of Morrigan, do you know where she went? I'm told she vanished right after the battle. No good-byes or anything."

"She doesn't want to be followed," Elyssa reminded him, much as she regretted it. She at least wanted to see her friend one last time. 

"I'm just concerned what that ritual is going to cost, eventually," he said with a sigh. "At any rate, I can't wait to be alone with you. These formal affairs drive me insane." She granted him another smile at that. 

"We'll be married soon, you know," she said with a slightly teasing glimmer in her eye. 

"I get to marry the woman I love," he declared, drawing a rare blush to Elyssa's cheeks. "I figure there can't be much better than that." He softly kissed her cheek. "I'll let you get to your adoring public. They want to see the Hero of Ferelden, and who am I to keep them waiting?"

The first person she spoke to was Arl Eamon, the man who had helped her do so much. 

"It is over, I can barely believe it," he admitted. "You stopped the civil war and then defeated the Blight. On behalf of Ferelden, allow me to say thank you. It truly cannot be said enough."

"I'm a Grey Warden," she said with a dismissive shrug. "That's what we do."

That drew a laugh from him. "So I'm learning," he responded. "It's good that you're staying here in the capitol. The Hero of Ferelden will have influence, and there is much to be done. Myself, I will be remaining here to help Alistair. Teagan will take over the rule of Redcliffe, at least for the time being. Connor seems well enough, and Isolde refuses to speak of what happened. She says she never wants to go back. I… cannot thank you enough for saving them. They are the joy of my existence."

"When I saw Lady Isolde and Connor, it… reminded me of Orana and Oren, my brother's wife and son," she admitted finally. "I couldn't watch another family get ripped apart like mine was."

"Tell me… have you noticed anything… strange about the lad?" Eamon asked hesitantly. "He seems… quiet."

"Consider what he's been through," Elyssa suggested gently. "I cannot claim to have been myself after what happened to my family."

"Ah, you are no doubt correct," he said, sounding almost resigned. "It is my imagination, I am sure. But here I am rambling on. I shall let you get back to the celebration, Warden. Enjoy it while you can." 

"When I heard my little sister was not only a Grey Warden but also leading Ferelden into battle? I was surprised, to put it mildly," Fergus said to her. "Father… he would have been so proud of you. I know I am. You've done good." He had said this to her before, but it was worth saying again. 

"Howe paid for what he did," she told him. "I killed him myself."

"Howe was a greedy, traitorous bastard," Fergus agreed with a growl. "I just wish I'd been there to help you kill him. At least Amaranthine now belongs to the Grey Wardens," he added, relaxing again. "There's some justice in that, I think. I need to go back to Highever, see if I can clean up the mess Howe made of it. I will see you soon, I hope?"

"Of course you will," she said with a soft smile. 

"Good. Highever won't be the same without… everyone around." The look on his face was just so sad that she hugged him. She'd had a whole year to come to terms with what happened, but he'd only learned about it all recently. It would take time before he felt even close to normal again. "Take care of yourself, you hear?" he requested, returning the embrace. "Or I'll find you and nag you like Mother did until you're ready to tear out your hair." She laughed softly and stepped back. 

"You'll come to the wedding, right?" she asked.

"Of course, little sister," he said. "Now go, I can claim your attention any time, and there are others who look like they want to speak with you." 

"So here we are," Leliana said with a smile. She was wearing a fine dress, standing with a few others in Chantry attire. "The conquering heroine has won the day, and now she takes her bow and exits the stage. A fine ending."

"You should take a bow with me," Elyssa told her. "After all, I didn't do this alone."

"Oh, my part was small," Leliana insisted. "I'm happy to watch you receive the accolades. It's quite fun." She paused, then smiled again. "You know, I can't help now but think of my vision. The Maker sent me to help you, and look what you did. It's a miracle. It truly is."

"So, where will you go now?"

"I've been asked by the Chantry to return to the Urn of Sacred Ashes," she said. "I need to make sure it's protected. Maybe pilgrims can even begin going there again."

"Congratulations," Elyssa said genuinely. "Sounds like fun."

"I expect to leave a month from now, with a small army of templars and priests," the redhead informed her. "It will be a grand adventure of my very own! I'm looking forward to it. At any rate… you should get back to the celebrations. We can speak another time."

"I will be relieved when all this pomp and ceremony is done," Zevran admitted with a sigh. "Such events are perfect opportunities for assassins, after all. I can't help but expect the Crows to appear at any moment. Which would be a welcome break, mind you."

"I'm sorry this is boring you," Elyssa laughed. "But you still think the Crows will come after you?"

"Eventually," he said. "With Talisen dead, it may take them time to figure out what has happened… but they are like the tides. Predictable. You know, it does occur to me that staying in one place is only going to invite the Crows that much quicker. While fun, that might eventually get… complicated." She understood what he meant. "You said earlier that you were planning on remaining here. Is that true?"

"Well, anything could happen, I suppose," she admitted. "Word may come from Weisshaupt and take me all the way to the Anderfels for all I know." 

"Hm. And if I said I was thinking of moving on? Seeing the sights? Meeting new people and killing a few?" he asked. She knew this would happen eventually. Leliana had already said she was leaving, and odds were good that Wynne was returning to the Circle after everything was done, and that Sten would go back to the qunari lands in the north. 

"You can go," she told him. "But only if you stop by once in a while."

"This is true. If I happen to return on occasion with a string of Crows behid me, be a good friend and kill them for me, yes?" This drew a chuckle from her. "Yes, I think that will work, sad as I am to part company. Well, then, I suppose I shall be leaving soon? Hmm… Perhaps Par Vollen? The qunari are pleasant folk, so I hear. I hope fate decrees we meet again. Bonne niviati, as we say back home… drink well, and be merry. Life is good."

Wynne was kept company by a few of the mages who had assisted them in the final battle. 

"The 'hero of Ferelden', my, my. How does it feel?" Wynne asked.

"It's a little strange," Elyssa admitted. 

"Of that, I have no doubt," the mage agreed. "It's a title you'll be wearing for a long time to come, just as Loghain wore his. But it's not so bad, is it? A Blight defeated with the other nations barely becoming aware. Who could ask for better?"

"I didn't do it alone," she reminded her.

"I don't think many heroes ever do," Wynne admitted. "I'm glad not to be on the receiving end of all this attention, myself. I say let the young have their fame. Not that I've gone without notice. Irving asked me to take over as first enchanter, but I don't wish to go back. Not after all this. Instead, I've decided to accept a position here at court. There has not been a mage advising the throne for a very long time." This had caught Elyssa by surprise, and she grinned.

"I was hoping you might stay," she admitted.

"I understand you are remaining in Denerim, so we will likely see each other a great deal. I look forward to it. For now, I image 'the hero of Ferelden' still has much to do. Good luck."

"It is good to see you again, kadan," Sten said when she approached where he was standing near Kenai. "These people… they call you 'hero'. It is a strange word, but I think I understand its meaning. The arishok on occasion has declared a qunari to be qunoran vehl, one who serves as an example to others. Such examples are always made after their death, however. A death in service to the Qun. A living qunoran vehl would be too proud."

"Do the qunari celebrate and put on parades?" she asked.

"When a qunoran vehl is declared, certainly," he confirmed. "It is one of the few occasions when the qunari are permitted to engage in… revelry. There is imbibing of spirits, public chanting, meditations abandoned… it is madness."

"This isn't madness," Elyssa reminded him. "Everyone's just relieved that the Blight is over."

"Yes, were I too weak to protect myself, I suppose I would also be vastly relieved to have a 'hero' save the day," he said in a slightly mocking tone. "I suppose I should tell you, I have decided to return to my people. Your quest is done, ad thus so is my reason for accompanying you."

"That will be a long trip home."

"Yes. It will be difficult to travel alone after… so much time spent with companions," he admitted. Was that his way of saying he'd miss her? "It must be said. You found my sword and gave me a chance to restore my honor. I owe you a great debt."

"You helped me as well," she reminded him. "It's been good."

"It has. That one of the bas… a foreigner, would become known as kadan to me? Unthinkable. Yet here it is. Perhaps I shall see you again one day," he said. "Until then, may you always find the path you seek. Farewell, kadan." Kenai barked at them from where he waited, wagging his stump of a tail. Elyssa laughed.

"Yes, I'm proud of what you've done too," she said to her hound. "You did such a good job helping keep everyone safe while I had to fight the dragon." She dropped to her knees and was petting her hound with both hands. "You're such a good boy. Just don't go getting into the larder here, alright? I don't want you making any of the cooks mad." He barked once, drawing out another laugh from his mistress. She stood again and made her way to Oghren.

"Where is the cake?" she heard Sten say as she walked off. "I was told there would be cake. The cake is a lie." He sounded mad, but it just made her laugh more. 

"Humans have a better taste for spirits than I thought," Oghren said, surprising her not at all. "The ale up here is actually good. Orzammar ale tastes like dirt by comparison. Probably because they put dirt in it. Go figure." Well, what else were they supposed to make their alcohol out of? Mushrooms? 

"Does that mean you're staying?" she asked, one eyebrow raised. 

"Eh, for now," he said with a sigh. "They may have already branded me a surfacer back home, anyhow. I got offered a spot in the human army. And not as mascot either… these humans aren't bad for all their long legs."

"You're done adventuring?"

"Maybe. For a bit. Talk to me in a year or so when I'm bored, maybe I'll think differently. Ah, well! Enough babbling. That pot-bellied son of a whore Teagan said I'd pass out before drinking an entire barrel of pickle juice." That… did not seem like the Teagan Elyssa remembered. "I aim to prove him wrong."

"Take care of yourself, Oghren," she said with a wry smile. 

"It's been good traveling with you, Warden," Oghren said seriously. "Don't get lost in the shuffle, now." Having spoken to all her companions and found out their plans, she decided it was time to speak to the guard about that parade of hers. 

She still couldn't believe that she had done all that. She'd almost single-handedly saved Ferelden. Almost. Maybe history wouldn't remember the companions that had traveled with her and fought at her side, but she would. And so would her husband.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each character says things when you select them after talking to them, but I only included Sten's because it's funny. Next is the Epilogue, and then we get into the Awakening DLC. After Awakening, it's Golems of Amgarrak and then Witch Hunt.


	60. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as you can probably guess, I fuzzied some of these a bit. It didn't make sense, in my head, for a King Alistair with the Warden wife to get called to Weisshaupt because of Anora. Some of the epilogue stuff that I included is glitched and doesn't trigger.

In the months that followed his coronation, Alistair surprised everyone by studying the art of governance and doing his best to rule the kingdom with a fair and even hand. He proved quite popular with the people, his humor and easy grace winning them over as much as his willingness to sneak out of the castle and mingle in the lower-class taverns on occasion. Anora, after seeing Alistair's dedication to his new role, and after being promised that rights to the teyrnir of Gwaren would be returned to her, finally agreed to renounce her claim to the throne and pledged fealty to him. Elyssa married King Alistair in a lavish ceremony six months after his coronation, becoming the Queen of Ferelden. The two toured the nation soon afterwards, and the people were ecstatic to see how the king adored his new bride.

News that the Urn of Sacred Ashes had been found in Ferelden did not spread outside the Chantry until Brother Genetivi made an announcement several months after the defeat of the darkspawn. The manuscript detailing his research and his experience with Andraste's cult drew huge interest among scholars throughout Thedas. Some years later, the Chantry announced that the resting place of Andraste's ashes had indeed been found. They were located, however, in ruins that were also the lair of a high dragon, thus proving too dangerous to approach. Many made demands to secure the Ashes so that followers could undertake pilgrimages to partake of their healing powers. Following numerous failed attempts to deal with the dragon, the beast finally flew off to find another haven… but leaving the mountaintop sanctum in ruins. An excavation found no traces of the Urn. People began to doubt that the Ashes had ever been found, while others claimed that a cult of Andraste's followers stole them from the temple. Still others say that the Maker Himself removed the Urn, deeming mankind unworthy of it. For now, what happened to the Urn is simply unknown…

Following months of effort, the tower of the Circle of Magi was finally cleansed of the last spirits to slip through the Veil. No further abominations were created, and First Enchanter Irving was pleased to declare the Circle safe. All that could be saved, had been. 

With the slavers shut down in the Alienage, the lot of the city-born elves improved for a time. The new king even named the local elder to his personal court--a scandal amongst the humans, but a sign of new hope for the elves. Shiani continued to be an outspoken member of the Alienage community, and in time became the new elder. That outspokenness earned her frequent trouble, but served her people well. 

Arl Eamon remained in Denerim for some time, acting as the chancellor and chief advisor to King Alistair. Teagan ruled over Redcliffe in his stead, and was surprised to find himself well-loved by the villagers, who were still grateful for the nights he spent defending their lives. In time, Eamon abdicated in favor of his brother… an event the locals greeted with approval and enthusiasm. Connor was sent off to study at the Circle, and considering his earlier experiences, he excelled in his training and easily passed the Harrowing to become a full mage. At his father's urging, Connor accepted a position in Tevinter to undertake a formal study of the Fade.

The Dalish prospered after the siege at Denerim, having earned much respect for their part in the battle. For once, human lands welcomed the wandering folk. The new keeper, Lanaya, was respected both amongst the Dalish as well as in the Ferelden court. She was a voice of reason, and other Dalish clans would turn to her to help resolve disputes with human folk. As for the werewolves, now freed of their curse, they remained together and took the surname Wolf in memory of what they once were. They eventually became the most successful animal trainers in Thedas, and each year would gather to light a candle in memory of the Lady who had loved them so well.

In Orzammar, King Bhelen quickly proved himself a reformer. Trade with the surface lands increased and caste restrictions were loosened. The casteless were permitted to take arms against the darkspawn in exchange for new freedoms. For the first time in generations, the line in the Deep Roads was pushed back, and a few thaigs were reclaimed. Bhelen's reforms quickly found him enemies in the warrior and noble castes, however, and after several assassination attempts, the Assembly was dissolved. The king then ruled alone--some said as a tyrant, others said as a visionary determined to drag Orzammar into the modern world. The dwarven mage, Dagna, ultimately completed her studies at the rebuilt Circle Tower on the surface. Eventually, she published a comprehensive theory of how lyrium vapors relate to the supply of magic. It gained a great deal of attention. This inspired mages from other parts of Thedas to establish a new Circle of Magi within Orzammar itself, one that had ready access to dwarven lyrium… and lies outside the Chantry's power completely. The willingness of Orzammar to harbor apostates sparked outrage that began whispers that the Divine was contemplating a new Exalted March.

Although the Anvil of the Void was destroyed, rumors about its location crept into Orzammar. Years later, thanks to the defeat of the darkspawn on the surface, a few determined smiths managed to locate the Anvil's remains. They examined the ruins of the Anvil, and, upon returning to Orzammar with their findings, convinced the Shaperate to attempt to recreate Cadidin's research. A new golem was created, bound with a spirit taken from the Fade. This golem immediately went insane, killing several shapers before it was destroyed. The research was branded excessively dangerous and sealed away. Whispers of its existence circulated throughout Orzammar, however, and demand among the smith caste to reopen Caridin's research refused to abate.

As good as her word, Morrigan disappeared once the archdemon was slain. Someone of Morrigan's description was seen traveling alone months later, heading west through the Frostback Mountains… and she may even have been with child. There was no word of her after that. With Flemeth dead--or at least gone--the chances of tracking her down were slim indeed. One cannot help but wonder, however: What became of the child? What were Morrigan's plans? These questions must remain a mystery... for now

As for Elyssa's companions, they went their separate ways. Alistair remained in Denerim with his love for a time, before the Grey Wardens once again called upon their Hero. Though he often expressed a desire to join her, he knew that his duty was now to the Ferelden courts, while hers was primarily to the Grey Wardens. 

As the Blighted lands began to heal and the Grey Wardens slowly rebuilt the order in Amaranthine, they discovered that the fight against the darkspawn was not yet complete. Although the horde was routed and had dissolved upon the archdemon's death, many of the more powerful darkspawn survived to organize roving war bands that preyed both on the land and upon each other. These war bands spread havoc, and some even journeyed west into Orlais or crossed the Waking Sea by the Deep Roads. They proved incredibly difficult to wipe out. This forced her from her love's side, as the Hero of Ferelden was needed to help find the cause of these roving bands of darkspawn.

But these tales are yet to be told. This tale ended when Elyssa sank her blade into the archdemon's head and destroyed it forever. It was not the last Ferelden would hear of her, however…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! We finally made it to the end of Dragon Age: Origins! Don't worry, this story's not done yet.


	61. Standing at the Beginning with You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hadn't been planning on doing a wedding chapter originally, and then suddenly this came to me yesterday, as I posted the previous chapter. Bonus points to people who catch my song references, though they're not from anything that's considered mainstream today.

Six months of planning and practicing. Lessons in governance for the new king and his future queen, and soon enough word had traveled around the kingdom that he was actually making a real effort. And, of course, between lessons they had to decide on their wedding details. Her dress was designed and ordered, and of course he'd had no part in that. The companions that she could contact, meaning everyone except Morrigan, had been sent invitations. Well, Wynne got a written invitation, but due to her decision to remain in Denerim with them sending hers was unnecessary. 

"Wynne, may I ask you something?" Elyssa said, looking up from the papers that formed her lesson for the day. 

"Of course," the old mage said with a kind smile. Elyssa hesitated, glancing away. "Is something wrong?"

"Actually… I was wondering if you would be willing to be in my wedding party," she admitted after a moment. "My own mother gave her life so I could escape the attack on Highever Castle, but… I've come to think of you as a second mother." She finally looked up. "Would you be willing to stand in my wedding as the mother of the bride?" It was the first time she'd actually seen Wynne stunned. Even Zevran's jokes had never seemed to do more than mildly irritate her, for the most part. But this time she seemed genuinely stunned.

"I would be honored," she said finally, a gentle smile gracing her face. Elyssa returned the smile. 

"Thank you," she said genuinely. She was about to say more when a knock on the study door distracted her. "Enter," she called, switching into what she considered her work mode. The mask she wore when dealing with the courts. The door opened and one of the elven servants walked in. 

"Your Highness, Lady Leliana is here," the servant said politely. 

"Show her in, then," Elyssa responded, returning her attention to the paperwork. "Wynne, could you… I can't get the numbers right." Wynne chuckled softly and made her way back around the desk, leaning over and pointing out where she'd gotten the complicated math wrong. It was just minutes later that a telltale musical laugh echoed up the hall. Elyssa looked up at Wynne and grinned. 

"My friend, it is good to see you again," Leliana said when she walked in. Elyssa and Wynne both looked up at her, and Elyssa stood from the desk to embrace the bard. 

"So, what's the news from the west?" Elyssa asked, leading Leliana over to one of the couches. "How did your trip to the temple go?"

"It was a disaster from the moment we got to Haven," she admitted. "The fanatics that hadn't attacked us when we went the first time had abandoned the village, and everything they'd left was…"

"A rotten mess?" Elyssa asked helpfully.

"Exactly," the bard agreed. "The templars were much more difficult to get past the high dragon, and…" She paused, then shook her head with a laugh. "But I should not trouble you with this. You are to be married in just a month. I am curious to know why you asked me to return so early, though." Elyssa's smile widened. This was something she'd kept hidden purposely, to ask her friend in person. 

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something, and I didn't want to do it through a letter," she admitted. "Would you be my maid of honor?" Leliana's eyes widened in surprise, and one hand came up to touch her lips. It was, once again, a face she had never seen her friend make. "Can I take that as a yes?" A wide smile spread across the redhead's face, and she nodded. Elyssa threw her arms around her shoulders again, laughing. "Alistair wanted to be here when I asked you, just so he could see your reaction," she admitted. "But he couldn't get out of today's lessons. I could have one of the elves show you to your room, if you'd like to rest before supper?"

The days flew by after that. And soon, others began to arrive. The first to do so was, in fact, Teyrn Fergus Cousland, who would be giving her away to her future husband. The first rehearsal, however, left her so close to tears that it had to be called off. She had, after all, expected her parents to see her get married. That they weren't had hit hard when she was practicing walking down the aisle with her brother. When the other nobles began to arrive, including Teagan Guerrin, the new Arl of Redcliffe, the doors to the main chamber were barred to prevent any unwanted interruptions. 

Then, the day came. Alistair would wait at Denerim's Chantry while she was escorted through the city. It was quite different from the tour of the city she'd taken six months before, after her defeat of the archdemon. Back then, it wasn't just her honor guard who were armored, she had been too. But because of what this was, she bore no armor. But she did trust her friends. She left the palace, on her brother's arm, with Wynne and Leliana both to her left. Though both of her friends were wearing slightly different styles of dress, finding a color that looked good with Leliana's red hair had been difficult. In the end, they were both wearing dresses of a deep, royal blue, though there were differences made when taking the age of each woman into account. With the four of them in front, and the honor guard behind, they began to make their way through the city.

Quite a crowd had gathered, too. Possibly even larger than the one that had presented itself after the Battle of Denerim. Or, it felt that way, at least, as Elyssa made her way through the city with her veil hiding her face. Maybe it was because she couldn't clearly see anyone. 

They took the long way to the Chantry, which was in the market district. She knew who would be waiting there for her. The rest of her friends, who had all arrived in the city within the week, as well as most of the Ferelden nobility. When they got there, her honor guard parted and reformed around her, making a path to the Chantry's door. Wynne entered first, followed by Leliana, and Elyssa and Fergus went last. 

Wynne walked up the aisle and sat in the first row. Leliana took her place to the Revered Mother's right, and everyone stood and turned when Elyssa entered. They all looked in her direction, and she could hear the mutterings. She heard whispered compliments about her dress, about her luck, and a few envious words from nobles who had seen that Alistair did in fact love her. 

Slowly, she and her brother walked up the aisle. And when she got closer, she saw her friends in the front row. Well, most of them. She'd received no word from Sten, and of course Morrigan had vanished. And Shale had admitted to preferring standing against the wall than sitting in the "silly little benches". And, well, the Revered Mother had objected to Kenai being present despite Elyssa's assurances that he was perfectly well behaved. But Zevran was there, and now Wynne. Shale, though not truly understanding why she wanted to go through with this, was watching from her spot against the wall, by the door. 

Then they were there, before the Revered Mother and before Alistair. Standing at the altar, between the two loves of her life, and she hoped the others were watching from the Maker's side. She felt Fergus reach out with the arm she'd been holding, and then Alistair's hand wrapped around hers. And she fought back tears again. This should have been her father's duty, to hand her off to her betrothed. When he lifted her veil, she saw the same mix of joy and sadness on his face. This was their special day, and it was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but there was something missing. It was possible that everyone felt the same way. 

When the Revered Mother began to speak, she spoke of marriage and of love, and then of the lives lost to both the civil war and the Blight. Of those who should have been there, but weren't. And of the strength of Ferelden's people, that they weren't going to let this beat them. When it was time for them to say their vows, the new king and his bride faced each other.

"Alistair, when we first met, I was in a terrible place," she admitted. "I thought I was alone in this world, when from the day I was born I'd always been surrounded by people. It was the end of everything I had known. But it was also a new beginning." She looked up at him and smiled softly. "You taught me how to find joy in small moments. Duncan may have saved my life by taking me to Ostagar, but you saved my heart." She glanced at the Revered Mother, who nodded slightly. "I swear to the Maker and the holy Andraste to love this man for the rest of my days. To assist in whatever he may need, and to stand at his side through whatever comes for us next. Though duty may keep us apart, my heart will always be yours." She had expected him to blush, and there was a hint of color to his cheeks, but it wasn't what she'd expected. He smiled lovingly down at her, as if she were the most precious thing in the world. 

"I swear to the Maker and the holy Andraste to love this woman for the rest of my days," Alistair said, echoing the vows she'd made. "To assist in whatever she may need, and to stand at her side through whatever comes for us next. Though duty may keep us apart, my heart will always be yours." He let the words echo for a moment before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. 

After the wedding, they held a ball. A celebration of their marriage, for all the nobles to enjoy. Once again, Shale kept to the wall rather than attempt to mingle with the squishy flesh creatures. Though the golem did actually seem to scare some of the banns, especially the ones who had sided with Loghain at the Landsmeet, so in Elyssa's mind at least, it was worth it. 

A slow song began with a clear dance floor, and instead of being escorted by her husband, her hand was held by her brother. They were the center of attention, her new dress sparkling in the flickering candlelight. He spun her around the dance floor, surprising her. She hadn't realized he even knew how to dance. They didn't talk, just danced. There was no need for words between them, they both knew what the other was thinking. It should have been Bryce Cousland dancing with her now. When he led her back off the dance floor, she had to dry her eyes with the handkerchief she'd stowed in her sleeve. When Alistiar came over to her, wrapping his arms around her when he saw her face. 

"They should be here…" she whispered. He tightened his hold around her. 

"I know," he said simply. They stood like that for a while, while everyone else danced around them. She finally looked up at him and he stole a quick kiss. 

"Despite everything that's happened, I wouldn't have it any other way," she admitted. "Standing at the beginning, with you… there's no place I'd rather be.


	62. Commander of the Grey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here, we venture into the beginning of Dragon Age: Origins Awakening. For those of you who haven't played this and have the other Origins DLC packs, the stuff from the Warden's Peak DLC does not transfer. That includes the Warden-Commander armor set and Starfang. The Blood Dragon armor set, as well as Cailan's armor set and the other weapons you find in Return To Ostagar will transfer only if a companion character doesn't have them equipped. The party storage chest in Soldier's Peak also doesn't transfer over. If you're wearing armor that doesn't transfer, you'll automatically be equipped with a new set of armor and weapons, which are class dependent as always. 
> 
> Also, don't touch the Rashvine.

It was a few weeks after the wedding when a letter came from Weisshaupt, bearing the seal of the First Warden himself. Elyssa's friends that had come to Denerim for their wedding had left. Even Wynne had departed the city, after explaining that things within the magical fraternities were escalating, and First Enchanter Irving had hoped she would be able to help keep the peace within Ferelden's Circle.

"What's that about?" Alistair asked, glancing at her as he donned his armor. Their rule was still too young. Neither of them left the room without arms and armor, though they didn't always have everything on. Heavy gauntlets often made opening doors difficult, believe it or not.

"It's from Weisshaupt," Elyssa said after a moment. "Wonder what they want…" She opened the letter and read it, eyes going wide. A smile slowly broke out across her face. "Well, this is a surprise."

"What?" Alistair asked with a laugh. 

"The First has named me Warden-Commander of Ferelden," she said with a grin. "Good timing too."

"Really?" he said, disbelief coloring his voice. 

"That's not all," she said, turning serious. "I've got new orders. A dozen Orlesian Wardens are being sent to Vigil's Keep, where they are to assist me in routing these roving bands of darkspawn, as well as finding where they came from." She looked up from the letter. "I guess our honeymoon period is over already."

"It's not as though I had hoped to keep you all to myself forever," he said jokingly. "At least take Duncan's Shield with you," he requested. "I can gather some soldiers as support and follow you."

The next morning, a woman named Mhairi arrived in Denerim, claiming to be Elyssa's guide to Vigil's Keep, what had once been the home of Arl Rendon Howe and his family. When they finally arrived, they were caught not only by rain but by darkspawn surprise as well. 

"It's you! The hero of Ferelden! Thank the Maker!" the man they'd saved said. 

"Where are the other Wardens?" she asked. The report had stated a dozen were supposed to be sent from Orlais. 

"There was someone right behind me, a mage! He might have been a Warden, I don't know," the man admitted. "All I heard was screams and people dying! I got out of there as fast as I could and ran into these…" He glanced at the darkspawn and then back at Elyssa. "You need to help them! You need to do something!" 

"Get yourself to safety," she told him quickly, drawing her blade again. 

"Yes, my lady. Thank you, my lady!" he said before running off in the direction Elyssa and her guide had come. 

"We don't have a lot of time, Commander," Mhairi said to her.

"The darkspawn launched a sneak attack," she observed. "That's unheard of."

"This isn't a Blight. How could they be so organized?" she wondered. "I don't understand."

"Perhaps something else is leading them," Elyssa reasoned, her expression grim. 

"Other than an archdemon, you mean? Frightening thought." Elyssa could tell there wasn't an archdemon nearby, the lack of a headache was enough of a sign. But there were darkspawn crawling all over the place, though not as many as had swarmed Denerim. Hopefully they weren't too late.

"Let's keep moving," she decided, making for the gate. 

"Right. Let's teach these evil bastards a lesson," the other agreed. 

They saved a few guards before approaching the main gate, which was blown open by the emissary's spell and both knocked Elyssa on her back and stunned her. The darkspawn in the courtyard were eventually cleared.

"Unbelievable…!" Mhairi exclaimed when they entered the Keep. "The keep has been overwhelmed! How did the Wardens not sense the darkspawn coming? I don't understand it!"

"How many Wardens were there?" she asked, wanting to make sure her report was accurate to what really happened. 

"Not many. A dozen, perhaps? There were other soldiers with them, however," she reported. The look on her face was enough to tell Elyssa how the girl was really feeling. "For the darkspawn to have ambushed the keep so effectively… I didn't know they were capable of such a thing!"

"I'm going to need your help here," she reminded Mhairi.

"I hear you, Commander," the girl responded. "You can count on me."

Maybe it was because she'd stared the Blight down, fought it head on, and won, but this didn't frighten Elyssa. It worried her, of course, but she wasn't afraid. A door up the stairs and to the right of the closed gate led them to a mage who had been in the process of killing a hurlock with fire, and was surrounded by dead templars as well as darkspawn. When he saw Elyssa and Mhairi, he looked back at the templars and then returned his gaze to them.

"Er… I didn't do it," he said. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not broken up about them dying, to be perfectly honest. Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down." Elyssa raised an eyebrow. 

"And who are you supposed to be?" she asked.

"You may call me Anders, my dear lady," he said, a flirty tone that Elyssa would've believed reminiscent of Zevran, had the elf been here. "I am a mage and, sadly, a wanted apostate."

"An apostate? At Vigil's Keep?" Mhairi asked, sounding like she very much didn't believe the story. But he was a mage, they'd seen it themselves when they walked in. 

"You weren't here when we arrived," the mage, Anders, observed as he crossed the room toward them. "I'm sure I would have remembered such a lovely woman as yourself."

"I'm taken," Elyssa said simply, a slight edge to her voice.

"We were just stopping here on our way back to the tower," he explained. "Just a short rest, they said, and now they're dead. Such a shame." She could sense that he wasn't a Warden. As Riordan had said, the taint became stronger with time. Now she could tell what was a darkspawn and what was a Warden. Almost consistently.

"Look, we don't have time to discuss this," she said with a sigh. 

"True," Anders agreed. "These darkspawn don't leave much time for chit-chat, do they? Tell you what. I'll help you, and we can discuss what comes later… later, once all these bastards are properly put down, yes?"

"Sounds good. Let's get moving."

They found a survivor in the next room, being attacked by a pair of hurlocks. Anders told him to get to safety, and he happily obliged. Good to know not everyone was dead. Yet. They had to get up onto the battlements to get around to the far side of the gate, where the lever was. When they got back down and hit the lever, a dwarf appeared on the far end, and the darkspawn seemed to trip some sort of trap by the explosion that followed. They went further in, and every time a survivor was found Anders ordered them to safety.

Further in, there was yet another surprise waiting for Elyssa. Oghren, of all people, swinging a new axe at the darkspawn. He saw her and waved before going back on the attack. She sighed softly. What, exactly, was he doing here?

"You know him?" Anders asked.

"Yeah, actually," Elyssa said vaguely before jumping into the fight. 

"A-ha! **There** you are!" Oghren said when the fight was done, leaning over the rail. "When these darkspawn showed up, I though _Just you wait until the new commander gets here and you'll all be spitting teeth out of your arses!_ Followed the screaming, and sure enough, here you are. Good on you!"

"Odd place for you to just show up," Elyssa said with a raised eyebrow. The last time they'd seen each other had been when his regiment left Denerim to help with reconstruction efforts further south. He hadn't been able to get enough leave time to come to the wedding, though he'd apologized for it in his last letter.

" **You** just showed up. **I've** been here for almost a week, now," he clarified. "Came here thinking I might try my hand at becoming a bona fide Grey Warden."

"He was here when I left," Mhairi muttered. "Can't believe the Wardens didn't kick him out." 

"Well hey! If it isn't the recruit with the great rack," he said, leaning against a pole at the end of the railing. Elyssa sighed. As bad as Oghren was, she'd actually missed him. A little.

"Yes, a prize for the Wardens, to be sure," she responded, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

"I know, I know, too good to be true, right? Hey… who's the mage? Boyfriend? Should I leave you two alone?" 

"Wow, a dwarf that smells like a brewery," Anders responded, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "You never see that anywhere." Elyssa was struck with the thought that he actually resembled Alistair a bit, at least in personality. Hopefully that meant they would get along just fine.

"Heh. A mage comedian. Thought those normally died young."

"It's good to see you again," Elyssa said with a laugh.

"I find that hard to believe," Anders admitted.

"As do I," Mhairi agreed. 

"Now, let's go introduce some darkspawn arses to my foot," Oghren insisted. "Only polite thing to do."

In the next hall, they stumbled across a wounded man whom Mhairi ran over to and knelt beside. 

"Mhairi…?" the man asked hesitantly. 

"Rowland! Commander, Rowland was a knight recruited from Denerim, like me," she explained. "We must do something for him!" 

"He looks beyond healing magic," Anders said sadly. "Maybe a shot of whisky for the pain?"

"I like the way you think," Oghren muttered.

"Stop joking! This isn't funny!" Mhairi cried out before Elyssa could smack the dwarf. 

"The… the commander?" Rowland stuttered. 

"What happened here? Where are the others?" Elyssa asked. She could tell that he was tainted already, and from the looks of him there wasn't enough time to clear the place out and perform the Joining before it killed him.

"We only had a moment's warning before they were on us, Commander," he reported shakily. "The seneschal ordered a counter-attack, but they came out of nowhere! There's one with them, a darkspawn who talks: his magic is powerful."

"A talking darkspawn? The lad must be delirious," Oghren said. 

"There's something in my blood!" Rowland cried. "It hurts." Elyssa sighed softly. Darkspawn blood. She'd seen what it did when left untreated... If he died from this, that was a mercy.

"Where is this talking darkspawn?" she asked.

"It went that way… after the seneschal," he told her with his last breaths. 

"I will avenge you, Rowland, I swear it," Mhairi promised before standing again. They followed the trail of darkspawn up to the keep's battlements, where they found the talking darkspawn Rowland had mentioned, and a man she guessed was the seneschal. Thank the Maker that he was still alive, at least. With a blade to his throat, it was probably about time for Elyssa to come to the rescue again.

"Take this one carefully," the darkspawn said. "We are wishing no more death than is necessary."

"Necessary?" said the human with a blade to his throat. "As if your kind has ever done anything else."

"You are thinking you know of our kind, human?" the darkspawn wondered. "It is understandable. But that will soon be changed."

"Others will come, creature," the man promised. "They will stop you." It was at this moment that Elyssa and her companions rounded the corner.

"There it is," Mhairi said.

"It seems your words be true, more than you are guessing," the darkspawn responded. 

"It is talking!" Anders exclaimed, sounding fascinated.

"Well, let's shut it up already!" Oghren suggested. Elyssa agreed. 

"Commander," the seneschal said, sounding relieved. 

"Capture the Grey Warden," the darkspawn ordered. "These others, they may be killed."

"Not on your life," Elyssa responded, drawing her blade. The talking darkspawn was soon dead, and Elyssa reached down to help the seneschal to his feet. It was a testament to her skill combined with Oghren's that they were uninjured. She hadn't been named Warden Commander of Ferelden for no reason, after all.

"Commander, I owe you my life," he said. Before he spoke again, he went to the edge of the battlements and looked out beyond. "Hm… soldiers on the road. It seems we have more company. Hopefully they're more hospitable than our previous guests." Elyssa joined him and looked as well, a small smile slowly appearing on her face when she saw the figure in golden armor that stood at the front.

"Don't worry about that, seneschal," she told him. "Those would be my husband's troops." Without waiting for an answer, she made her way back through the keep to the roadside gate. Which was, she remembered, still standing wide open. She and the seneschal both went to one knee when they reached the gate.

"It looks like I've arrived a bit late," Alistair said, glancing around. "Too bad. I rather miss the whole darkspawn-killing thing." 

"King Alistair!" Mhairi said, sounding surprised as she too sank to one knee.

"I'd wanted to come and give the Wardens a formal welcome," he told them. "I certainly wasn't expecting this. What's the situation?" The three of them got back to their feet.

"What darkspawn remained have fled, Your Majesty," the seneschal reported. "The Grey Wardens who had arrived from Orlais appear to be either dead… or missing." 

"Missing? As in taken by the darkspawn? Do they even do that?" Ah, there was the adorable goof she'd married. But he was right to question. The darkspawn took women to become broodmothers, but beyond that they knew very little about their ancient foe.

"I do not know, Your Majesty," the seneschal admitted. "I know only that we cannot account for all the Wardens."

"I see." He turned his attention to her. "And how about you, dear wife? You weren't badly hurt, I see?" he asked softly, a hint of worry creeping into his voice.

"Planning on joining me, my dear husband?" she asked, a playful smile about her lips. She didn't notice the looks that passed behind her. Anders was probably the only one of the group who didn't know she was married to the king, given that he'd likely been spending the Blight trying to escape from the Circle again. 

"Oh, I wish," he said longingly. "Don't even tempt me like that, you minx. Eamon will have a heart attack." He sighed. "You have quite the task ahead of you. Really, I'd like to help you fight darkspawn, but you're on your own for the moment."

"Hey! What am I? Chopped nug livers?" Oghren protested. 

"From the smell, that's not a bad guess," Anders responded. 

"I came here to join the Grey Wardens, and from the looks of it you could use the extra hands!" Well, he wasn't wrong. "Where's the giant cup? I'll gargle and spit."

"You're not allowed to spit," Elyssa said with a sigh, a wry grin aimed at her husband. 

"Heh. That's what I always say…" he said with a lewd laugh. Elyssa sighed again. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. 

"I… suppose all are welcome, in this dire time," Mhairi said doubtfully. 

"Joining the Wardens, hey? Well, good luck with that," Anders said. 

"King Alistair! Your Majesty, beware! This man is a dangerous criminal!" said the woman in templar armor who had come with Alistair.

"Oh, the dwarf is a bit of an arse, but I wouldn't go **that** \--"

"She means me," Anders interrupted. 

"This is an apostate who we were in the process of bringing back to the Circle to face justice," the templar announced. 

"Oh, please," Anders said with an exasperated sigh. "The things you people know about justice would fit into a thimble. I'll just escape again anyhow."

"Never. I will see you hanged for what you've done here, murderer!" the templar accused.

"Murderer? But those templars were--oh, what's the use? You won't believe me anyhow." Hm… Perhaps there was something she could do here…

"It seems there isn't much to say. Unless… you have something to add, Commander?" Alistair intervened, giving her a pointed look. Seems he'd gotten the same idea she had.

"I do, in fact," Elyssa said. "As Warden-Commander of Ferelden, I hereby conscript this mage into the Grey Wardens."

"What? Never!" the templar protested.

"I believe the Wardens still retain the Right of Conscription, no?" Alistair reminded her. "I will allow it."

"If… if your Majesty feels it is best…" the templar conceded. She walked away to join the rest of the troops they'd brought in waiting at the gate. Elyssa wondered why the templar bowed her head to Alistair, the king, and not to Elyssa, who was officially his Queen now that Anora had stepped down. Oh well, there would be time to worry about that later.

"Hah! Way to go, kid! Welcome aboard!" Oghren said to Anders.

"Me? A Grey Warden?" He paused, thinking. "I guess that will work…"

"Congratulations, ser mage," Mhairi said formally. "I look forward to fighting at your side."

"Then if you have everything under control, I will need to take my leave," Alistair said, a hint of regret in his voice.

"I believe the estate has been secured, yes," the seneschal said. "We have suffered great losses, but the darkspawn are gone and there are survivors." He blinked, as if just thinking of something. "Oh, excuse my manners. I am Varel, seneschal of Vigil's Keep. And I am most grateful for your timely rescue, Commander." Right. That had been skipped over in all the chaos, hadn't it? "I will aid you in ruling the lands of Amaranthine." 

"You said there are survivors?" Elyssa asked. She knew of the few she'd personally rescued, but did that mean there were more?

"Some of the soldiers and Vigil staff survived, but none of the Orlesian Wardens made it." Ah. "Come and speak to me soon. There are many matters to attend to, not the least of which is the Joining. You will need to replenish your numbers." The seneschal made to return to the keep, and out of the rain, taking the new recruits with him.

"I hate having to ask you to do this, love," Alistair admitted softly. "It'd be so much more interesting to keep you at court…"

"Don't worry about it, Alistair. I'll be fine," she assured him with a smirk. "If the archdemon couldn't kill me, this thing has no chance."

"See? This is why I married you," he said with a soft laugh. "You kick ass much better than I do." The soldiers were waiting by the gate, and with the new recruits taken inside they were as alone as they were probably going to get. She slipped her hand into his, though the armor made things rather uncomfortable. "It will be up to you to deal with the vestiges of the Blight before the situation grows out of control. No easy task, but I'm confidant you are up to it. Now, let me say a quick good-bye, before I change my mind." She closed her eyes as he closed the space between them, and the gentle touch of his lips to hers made her heart ache. When he stepped back, there was an odd longing in his eyes. Without another word, he turned around and walked away from Vigil's Keep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last we'll see of Alistair for a while, dear readers.


	63. Replenishing Numbers

Elyssa watched almost forlornly as Alistair and his troops left. When they were out of sight, she finally turned and made her way into Vigil's Keep, eventually finding the throne room. It was a nice place, with a red carpet along the length and pillars spread along both side walls, as well as a large fire pit in the center. It was almost similar to the throne room in the palace, save the lack of balconies on either side and the smaller size.

"Before we do anything else, Commander, there's an urgent matter we must take care of," Seneschal Varel told her when she approached. "Right now, I know of one living Warden assigned to all of Ferelden. That should be rectified. The others could aid you considerably."

"Let's begin the Joining, then," she agreed. 

"As you wish, Commander." Thankfully, despite someone having taken Ferelden's supply of archdemon blood from the vault in Denerim, they had been able to replenish it after the battle against the archdemon six months prior. And there was plenty of fresh darkspawn to procure blood from. 

"The three of you will wait here while we prepare what is needed," she told her recruits. Her tone left no room for discussion. She and the seneschal left, and she was glad to find that he'd been briefed by the other Wardens as to how to go about preparing for the Joining. Learning how to perform the Joining was meant to have been part of what the Orlesian Wardens taught her, but for obvious reasons that wasn't happening. So she watched as Varel prepared the blood vials, one for each recruit. 

"The time has come for us to begin the Joining," Varel said to the recruits as they gathered round the fire pit in the middle of the main hall. It hadn't taken all that long to finish preparing.

"I shall speak the words that have been said since the first," Elyssa continued. This much, at least, she knew. "Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us in the duty that cannot be foresworn." She looked at each of them as she spoke. "And, should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten, and that one day, we shall join you." Seneschal Varel picked up the goblet, and Elyssa tipped the first vial into it. Varel took the goblet and stood before Oghren.

"From this moment forth, Oghren, you are a Grey Warden," he said.

"What's this, the sampler size?" Oghren asked. "You trying to say something about my height eh?"

"Oghren, it's the traditional Joining goblet," Elyssa said gently. 

"Really? Huh." He tipped it back and swallowed the blood. Instead of passing out, as Elyssa remembered having done at her own Joining, Oghren belched. "Hm… not bad."

The seneschal sighed. "Maker help us all." Elyssa gave him a wry grin and unstoppered the second vial. Varel went to stand in front of Anders. "From this moment forth, Anders, you are a Grey Warden."

"So we need to drink darkspawn blood?" he asked. "That's it?"

"That is it, yes." There was more to it, but that wasn't something recruits were told. 

"Well, alright, but if I wake up two weeks from now on a ship bound for Rivain in nothing but my smallclothes and a tattoo on my forehead, I'm blaming you," he said before draining the goblet. He, predictably, did pass out. 

"He lives, Commander, and will awaken in time," Varel assured her. The third vial was poured into the goblet, and the third recruit approached. "From this moment on, Mhairi, you are a Grey Warden."

"I have awaited this moment," she admitted, downing the blood as well. She was not as fortunate as the other two, however. First came the coughing fit, and then she collapsed to the ground. Elyssa knew she was dead before Varel went to her. She remembered the same thing happening to Daveth during her Joining. 

"I am sorry Mhairi," Varel said softly. "May the Maker watch over you now." Oghren and Anders were moved to their rooms to recover, while someone else took Mhairi's body to prepare it for the funeral service. "Poor Mhairi…" Varel said with a shake of his head. It was unfortunate, but anyone in service of the Wardens knew the risk of death during the Joining. "Open the doors!" Two people came through, a man in armor and a woman without. They were arguing over something.

"The Commander must be informed about the Deep Roads entrance," the armored man was saying. "It could be their base of operation."

"You would have the Wardens chase a lead with no proof?" the woman countered. "If the Pilgrim's Path is not open by the time your army converges, they'll have nothing to eat but shoe leather!"

"Garavel. Woolsey. The Commander has had a long day," Varel interrupted. "Woolsey says some merchants escaped the darkspawn; they can reprovision you for a reasonable fee. And the Vigil is yours; take whatever weapons and armor you need. We'll be waiting here when you're ready." She nodded and went to examine what they still had after the darkspawn attack. It didn't look like the building itself had suffered much damage, thankfully.

Returning to the throne room, she spoke first with the woman, who she guessed was Woolsey.

"Warden-Commander, a pleasure to meet you," she said formally. "I am Mistress Woolsey, send by order of the First Warden at Weisshaupt. I am to act as treasurer for the arling of Amaranthine. He believes local men could not be trusted for this post."

"One of those 'local men' is right here, Mistress Woolsey," Seneschal Varel said indignantly. 

"I have every confidence in the Vigil's loyalty in matter of arms, but gold corrupts even the most resolute soul," she responded.

"I am pleased to have your service," Elyssa responded politely. 

"Ser, the arling is on the brink of economic collapse," Woolsey reported. "Trade must flow. Merchant caravans are being systematically attacked somewhere along the Pilgrim's Path. It is the only route that can reasonably provision an army, feed a city, and maintain civilization."

"Is the situation really that dire?" she asked. The Pilgrim's Path, she remembered, was the only significant road between Amaranthine and Denerim.

"A short-term thinker sees only immediate financial loss," Woolsey said. "But without essential supplies, we can expect mass starvation and anarchy. In the city of Amaranthine, there is a trader, Marvis, whose caravans have been hit particularly hard. He may know where along the road the darkspawn--or whatever they are--are striking." 

"That will be all, Mistress Woolsey," Elyssa said.

"Very well Commander." 

Next, she spoke with the armored man.

"This is Garavel, the new captain of the guard," Varel said as way of introduction.

"I have a matter to bring to your attention," the Guard-Captain announced. 

"Anything important?" she said. 

"Potentially urgent," he said. "The Orlesians--Wardens, I mean--began gathering information while they were here. The most promising lead they found was a wild tale a couple of hunters told."

"What did the hunters claim?" she asked, wondering why a hunting tale was considered a lead. 

"These hunters, Colbert and… well, the other one… claim to have stumbled across an entrance to the Deep Roads," he reported. Well, that would merit some sort of venture, at least to see whether or not their claims were true. "Darkspawn all over the place, they said. And this was **before** the fiends appeared throughout the whole arling. The Wardens were just about t send someone t track down Colbert."

"Those hunters may have found a darkspawn breeding ground…" Elyssa muttered. She remembered the Broodmother she ran into during the Blight while looking for the Anvil of the Void. 

"One breeding ground at least. Colbert and his friend are in the city of Amaranthine. Probably amongst the refugees outside the city gate," Garavel said. 

"To business then," Varel said. "Orlais sent a dozen Wardens to the Vigil to await your arrival. Nearly all died in the attack--but Kristoff is still in the field."

"Why was he in the field?" she asked. He must've been searching for something, but what?

"The Orlesian Wardens were uneasy that the darkspawn weren't going to ground, with the Blight ended," he reported. "Kristoff was sent to track down some leads. A fortnight ago he left in a bustle. As best as we can figure, he went to the city of Amaranthine."

"Did Kristoff reveal anything of what he found?"

"He did, but not to me," Varel admitted. "The Wardens keep their own counsel."

"Is there anything else?" she asked. "Or can we talk of other matters?"

"That's the only thing that needs immediate attention," he said. "Do you want something else, Commander?"

"What can you tell me about Vigil's Keep?" she asked. True, Amaranthine fell under the Highever teyrnir, but she didn't know much about it. 

"We call her the Vigil," he began. "She's been around here for a long spell. They say the Alammari barbarians first built a fort here to stop Tevinter incursions from the lowlands of the Waking Sea. They say the castle was built on a mountain of bones. Much death here."

"Thank you," she said. "I should be going." 

Their conversation finished just as the other two came back downstairs. "Are you both alright?" she asked. Oghren grunted. 

"I've been better," Anders admitted. "My head is pounding…"

"That'll go away in a few hours," she promised. "It's just an adjustment to being able to sense the darkspawn." 

"If you say so," he said with a disbelieving shrug. 

A woman was waiting outside the Vigil's gate when Elyssa took the other two back outside.

"Blimey, Commander of the Grey," the woman muttered, sounding awestruck. "Right. A while back they caught a thief in the Vigil. Took four Wardens to capture him. Gave one of the Wardens a black eye, he did. Half joking, they said he might make a good recruit."

"Where is this thief now?" she asked.

"He's in the dungeon, ser," the woman reported. She also had some letters, addressed to Elyssa, from people requesting help. She decided that the first thing she needed to do, though, was visit the thief. If it took four Wardens to capture him, he might actually be a worthy recruit.

"Ah, Commander, good thing you're here," the guard said when he saw her. "This one's been locked up three nights now. Good men died while this one was protected in his cell."

"Who is he?" she asked, a frown on her face. Something about this man was familiar, particularly around the eyes. 

"He won't give his name," the guard admitted. "All I know is he was caught poking around the estate in the middle of the night. I'd say he was just a thief, but it took four Grey Wardens to capture him. You'd best be careful. Whoever he is, he's no ordinary burglar, that's for sure."

"Leave me to talk with him," she requested. 

"As you wish, Commander," the guard said. "I'll tell the seneschal you came. He'll want to know what you decide to do with this man." She stayed silent until she heard the door close behind him. Instead, the prisoner spoke first.

"If it isn't the great hero, conqueror of the Blight and vanquisher of all evil," the man said scornfully. "Aren't you supposed to be ten feet tall with lightning bolts shooting out of your eyes?" 

"I see my reputation precedes me," she said, keeping her tone carefully even.

"It does. I know you best as the one who murdered my father." Her eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed. That explained why he looked so familiar. "I am Nathaniel Howe. My family owned these lands until you showed up. Do you even remember my father?" Her gaze hardened into an icy glare. 

"Your father killed my family," she reminded the man. "He deserved everything he got."

"Your family was going to sell us out to the Orlesians!" he protested. 

"I suppose he told you that?"

"How could he? A Grey Warden stole into his estate and slaughtered him before I could even talk to him. I came here… I thought I was going to try to kill you. To lay a trap for you," he admitted, much to Elyssa's surprise. Why would he just admit that? "But then I realized I just wanted to reclaim some of my family's things. It's all I have left."

"Just how much do you know about your father?" she asked.

"If you're asking whether I knew what he was up to, the answer is no," he insisted. "I was squired in the Free Marches. Look, I don't know what happened with the Couslands. It sounds like it was horrible. The entire war was. Whatever my father did, however, shouldn't harm my whole family. The Howes are pariahs now, those of us left. It's all thanks to you. And now you get to decide my fate. Ironic, isn't it?"

"I understand we had trouble capturing you," she said simply. A thought was beginning to form in her mind, but she wasn't sure what direction it would go quite yet.

"I am not without skills," he said rather vaguely. "My time abroad wasn't spent chasing skirts and drinking wine."

"What skills are those, exactly?" 

"Hunting. Scouting. Poisons. Why? What do you care?" 

"Perhaps you should work to redeem your name," she suggested.

"You're right," he snarked. "I'll go join King Alistair's service immediately. He'd be certain to give a Howe another chance!" 

"Do you really hate me so much?" she wondered. Sure, this man was the son of the man who had turned her life on its head, but she didn't hate him for what Rendon Howe had done. At least, not now that she knew they hadn't played a part in what he had done to her. He hadn't even been here for the mess that had happened last year, what with the Blight and the civil war.

"The darkspawn are a menace. If it weren't for the Blight, maybe my father would never have… done what he did. But I can't do anything about them, can I?" he snapped. "There's just you and the Grey Wardens, here in my home." 

"I've decided what to do with you."

"Already? Good."

"I brought the seneschal for you, Commander," the guard said when he came back in.

"I see you've spoken to our guest," Seneschal Varel said. "Quite the handful, isn't he? Have you decided what's to be done with him?"

"Did you know this is Nathaniel Howe?" she asked first. 

"A Howe? It figures they would turn up again," he responded with a shake of his head. "The Howes are implacable enemies, Commander."

"I wish to invoke the Rite of Conscription," Elyssa said, catching everyone by surprise. 

"You **what**?" Nathaniel asked flatly.

"I am sorry Commander… the Rite of Conscription? On the prisoner?" the seneschal asked, confused. 

"No, absolutely not! Hang me first!" Nathaniel protested. 

"You don't think this is better than dying?" she challenged, the cold look back in her eyes.

"Hard to say. You like having Grey Wardens who want you dead?"

"One of my good friends tried to kill me," she admitted, remembering the day she met Zevran.

"You really want a Howe as a Grey Warden? You are a very strange woman. I can't decide if this is a vote of confidence of a punishment," he grumbled. 

"An… interesting decision, Commander." And one that the seneschal seemed to disagree with. "Come with me, ser. We'll see if you survive the Joining."

He did. Though he passed out too.

"The Howe is stronger than I expected," Varel admitted. "For better or worse, he will live." Later, Elyssa and Howe spoke of his family, a conversation spawned by a painting of his mother. And then they had to go through a ceremony for the Amaranthine nobles to swear fealty to her and the Grey Wardens. Oh, politics. What fun. She was warned about the potential that some of the nobles might be ready to turn against her, and then the doors were opened. She spoke with Lord Eddelbreck, whom her father had called friend once, and he requested soldiers to defend the farms. Bann Esmerelle interrupted the conversation to make her case as to leaving the soldiers to defend Amaranthine instead. And another, Ser Tamra, warned Elyssa of a plot against her life, but had no names. 

When Elyssa brought the matter of the conspiracy against her to the seneschal, he first offered the soldiers as spies before claiming that they were in all likelihood going to be terrible spies. So, she decided to seek out the mysterious "Dark Wolf" person, somewhere in Amaranthine. 

There was a moment, in the courtyard, where Nathaniel managed to make Oghren flustered. And that was impressive. 

"I spent months traveling with this dwarf trying to get him quiet, and you manage it in a matter of minutes…" she said with a sigh. A dwarf named Voldrik called her over when she passed by, talking about upgrades for the Vigil. And, under one of the eaves they found Wade and Herren, again. And then they ran into the groundskeeper, and elf that had apparently known Nathaniel since he was a boy. Nathaniel asked about his family, and the groundskeeper said that his sister was, in fact, alive. So Elyssa said they could look for her in Amaranthine. Everything seemed to be happening there.


	64. Welcome to Amaranthine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cities are all the same no matter where you go. They're the best place to get information, as long as you watch out for the smugglers and conspiracy theorists.

"So, you're really married to the king?" Anders asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

"Like anyone would be able to pull off that kind of lie," she said simply. "Oh, I guess in your escape attempts, you missed our tour of Ferelden after the wedding." She gave him a look over her shoulder, a small smirk on her face. "So, no, your bad attempts at flirtation won't work on me."

"Worth a shot," the mage said with a shrug. She heard Oghren chuckle behind them.

The first task, Elyssa decided, was to find the hunter who reported the Deep Roads entrance. Since he was assumed to be outside the gates, it was best to search for him before going further in. He was actually easy enough to find.

"Looking for some company, honey-pie?" the man asked. "I'm always available for riveting conversations with fine women."

"I'll rivet you to the floor if you call me that again," she said icily. 

"I like a woman who's all business," he said. She sighed.

"We received word about an entrance to the Deep Roads," she said, her tone short and clipped.

"I can't take all the credit for finding the rift, you know," the man said. "Micah fell in there first." The elf grunted, but said nothing.

"Keep talking," she suggested, still a bit ticked at the honey-pie comment earlier. 

"It's quite a ways out of town," he said quickly. "We were tracking a buck off in that direction, you see… before this darkspawn mess. We'd been on his tail for about a week at that point. I'd wager he thought it was great fun, leading us on a merry chase as he did."

"I'm not here to talk about venison," she said, her tone short. 

"Oh, the chasm. Yes… we saw it coming over a rise. It was really something to behold. A huge cleft, as though the Maker Himself had cracked the earth in two, like… like an egg," Colbert said, sounding excited.

"I like eggs," the elf said.

"It looked like someone had tried to build over it, but it must have been abandoned a long time ago. No one in town knew about it."

"Are you sure?" Elyssa asked. 

"No, I'm not sure… I didn't ask **everyone** about it, but if someone knew something they didn't say anything," he clarified. "Well, of course we had to investigate! That was when Micah fell in. A shriek like you wouldn't believe, then he was gone."

"Earth crumbled. Not stable," Micah said.

"Right. And as Micah lay there yelling about his knee or his head or what have you, the darkspawn appeared."

"How many?" she asked. 

"More than a brood and less than a horde," the hunter said helpfully. "They seemed… occupied, like they had some place really important they had to be. Didn't notice us at all. Thank the Maker."

"The darkspawn were so preoccupied as to overlook two screaming, injured men?" Anders asked, voicing Elyssa's question. "Boggles the mind."

"I marked the chasm on my map so we could avoid it, but it sounds like you want to know where it is, so here you go," Colbert said, marking the spot on Elyssa's map after she pulled it out. "So, we getting anything for our trouble?" 

"Here's a sovereign," she said with a sigh. Hopefully that would be enough to keep them out of everyone's hair for a few days, at least. She was stopped before the gate by a guardswoman with a letter from one Sir Wolf of Rivain, whom Elyssa realized must have been the Dark Wolf character the seneschal had mentioned earlier. Within the gate, they were stopped by another guard who said he was searching for smuggled goods. 

"Alright," Elyssa said. "I have nothing to hide." She offered her pack, and after a moment she heard the others beginning to do the same.

"Thank you, I will make this quick," the guard said. 

"What are you doing, man?" someone else said quickly, interrupting the guard before he could even begin searching. "Are you accusing the Commander of the Grey of smuggling?" The guard stuttered a bit before being dismissed. "I apologize. Smugglers and thieves have all but taken over the city."

"Glad to see you're taking precautions," she said.

"Yes, Warden-Commander. The smugglers have us scrambling, to be honest. We could certainly use your help in this. Come speak to me later if you are interested." She nodded. She would look into this later, but there were other things she needed to find first. 

Nathaniel stopped them as they neared a particular merchant, then walked up to one of the women.

"Delilah? Is that really you?" he asked softly.

"Nathaniel! I had feared the worst!" she said happily. They pulled each other in for a hug.

"Times must have been hard Delilah, but you can do better than this," he insisted. "Come back to the estate until we find somewhere else." 

"What?" Delilah said, then laughed. "Oh Nathaniel, I didn't marry Albert out of desperation! I adore him!" she assured her brother. "I was so glad to get away from Father's evil--this life is so much better."

"Father's evil?" he echoed. "Isn't that overstating things a little? He got caught up in politics…"

"You weren't here," she said sadly. "You didn't see what he did, Nathaniel. You want the culprit who destroyed our family? It was him, without question."

"I… had no idea," he admitted softly. 

"Of course you did. But you always worshipped Father, right from when you were a little boy. Come brother, let us sit and catch up a bit, shall we?" Elyssa, Anders, and Oghren passed the time browsing merchants' wares.

"How did it go?" Elyssa asked, though there was a good answer all over his face.

"She said she wants me to come back, once this is all done," he said slowly, as if he wasn't sure the words were true. "Meet her husband. She's due by the spring," he added with a laugh. "She seems happy. She said Father deserved to die! I still can't believe it."

"He murdered my family to get what he wanted," she told him again. 

"I thought he had his reasons," Nathaniel admitted. "It was a **war** for Andraste's sake! Before I went to the Free Marches, he was never… how could he have changed so much?" 

"It's not your fault Nathaniel," she reminded him. 

"What if I'd never left?" he wondered. "I didn't have much choice, but still… I wish I'd known some of this sooner, I feel like such a fool. Now please… let's get back to our business. I need to think."

On the upper level of the city, by the far wall, they met the Dark Wolf himself, who offered to assist in exchange for fifty sovereigns. Though Elyssa willingly gave it to him, she was aware of the fact that she had little coin left to share at the moment. 

Elyssa found the Chantry at the top of another set of stairs, and in front of it was an old friend. 

"Well, if it isn't the Warden-Commander," Wynne said with her usual kind smile. "How have you been? I suppose congratulations are in order?"

"It's good to see you Wynne," she responded. 

"And you," the mage agreed. "I hear the darkspawn are not retreating as they should. It sounds like the Wardens have their hands full. I'd offer to help, but I'm afraid my presence is required elsewhere." 

"Where?" Elyssa asked, curious. 

"The College of the Magi is convening in Cumberland, and I must attend," Wynne explained. Wasn't Cumberland up in Nevarra? That was a long way to travel. "Hopefully all this will blow over before it's begun. But you have enough on your mind as it is. I shan't trouble you with this further."

"Indulge me," she said seriously. "These events affect more than just mages."

"Very well. Then perhaps you should know that something stirs within the fraternities," she agreed after a moment. "The Libertarians wish to pull away entirely from the Chantry. And if they get enough support…"

"Pull away entirely? That's madness!" Anders protested. "I hate Chantry oversight as much as the next mage, but they can't just decide to leave. This is a recipe for disaster."

"That is troubling," Elyssa agreed. She'd need to let Alistair know, so he would have his ears open as well. 

"Well, it could turn out to be nothing," Wynne admitted. "But keep your ear to the ground anyway. Now, I have a great many preparations to make before I leave for Nevarra. But perhaps there is something you can do for me. One of my… colleagues, Ines, has spent the last few months in the Wending Wood. The Circle has been unable to reach her, given the trouble in the area. If you happen to find yourself in the wood on your travels, perhaps you could tell her about the meeting of the College."

"What's she doing in the Wending Wood?" 

"Oh, who knows. Rooting around in the dirt for some obscure plant or other, most likely," was the response. "She has a keen interest in gardening. Oh, I'm sorry. I meant **botony**. Hobbies and eccentricities aside, Ines is a well-respected mage and a voice of reason. Something we could use on our side. But I can't waste any more time. Good luck to you, Warden-Commander."

"Maker watch over you, Wynne," she responded as her friend walked away. Elyssa led her companions back out of the city, and decided that the first stop would need to be Knotwood Hills, where the Deep Roads entrance had been reported by the hunters. The darkspawn needed to be dealt with before they did anything else.


	65. Last of the Legion

They had gotten pretty close to the chasm when they were attacked by a blighted creature, a bereskarn.

"What exactly was that?" Anders asked once it was dead.

"Bereskarn," Elyssa said. "A blighted bear. When humans, dwarves, or elves become victims of the taint, they either die or become a ghoul. Animals, though, aren't as lucky. They become crazed by the pain of the darkspawn blood. It corrupts them as much as it corrupts the land. And they don't usually live too long once they reach that state anyway," she added, motioning to the bereskarn's distorted, spiny figure. 

"I can see why the pain would drive them mad…" Nathaniel muttered. 

"But this does mean one thing. The hunter's story was true, after all," Elyssa said seriously, remembering Mistress Woolsey's original disbelief of the Captain's lead. "Let's keep moving." It wouldn't have been a bad thing if the hunter's lead had been a dead end. It would've eliminated this spot as a problem area. But discovering the problem early like this would help them get it taken care of.

She didn't react when Oghren mentioned his suspicions about this section of the Deep Roads having been built too close to the surface, though she did agree that it looked like a section had collapsed in on itself. The bridge that crossed it looked recent, but not new. Older than a few weeks, but too recent to have been here for more than a few months. Perhaps the chasm had opened up during the Blight. 

A group of deepstalkers attacked them when they reached the Deep Roads entrance. After that, things were oddly quiet until they got further in. There, they came around a corner just in time to see a dwarf getting dragged away by a hurlock alpha, only to break away and make a run for it, picking up a weapon from the floor and standing ready. The Wardens didn't hesitate to jump into the fight and assist.

"Well, that was… close," the dwarf said once the darkspawn were defeated, and Elyssa guessed from the voice that it was a woman. "For a moment there I thought I was **really** about to join the Legion of the Dead." 

"Are you alright?" she asked. She remembered the dwarf Kardol had been a member of the Legion, and she remembered what they represented. She didn't need to ask that. 

"I might've cracked a rib, but it's hard to be sure," she admitted. "Everything hurts."

"Do you need help?" Elyssa asked. "Our mage is a healer."

"No, no, I'm fine," the dwarf insisted. "I just need to catch my breath. Anyway, I can't chat for long. I should probably go back… as foolish as that sounds… see if there's anything I can do."

"Back where?"

"The old fortress of Kal'Hirol," she explained. "There's something going on there. I think the darkspawn are breeding an army. The Legion went to investigate, but Kal'Hirol was too much for us. It was a massacre. And now I… I'm the only one left," she said sadly.

"These darkspawn must be eradicated," Elyssa said.

"That's what we thought. 'Oh, we'll just run in there, eradicate the darkspawn and be back in time for supper.' Well… whoops. The darkspawn have changed, they're smart now," she reported. "They destroyed the Legion. I saw them taking some of the women and I wasn't about to stick around for **that**." Women got taken by the darkspawn to become Broodmothers, and the men became their food. Which really might mean that the darkspawn were trying to breed an army.

"I'll fight with you," Elyssa told her. "Together, we can avenge the Legion." She needed to get to the bottom of this, anyway.

"What? Really?" the dwarf said, not sounding convinced. "Did I mention Kal'Hirol was a death trap? Why do you want to do this?"

"I'm a Grey Warden," was her response. Short, simple, and to the point.

"Ah, my condolences." It was nice to meet someone who knew that the Wardens were about more than just glory. "Let's not waste time. Kal'Hirol awaits, and darkspawn, when left to their own devices, get up to all kinds of nonsense." Like children, but with weapons. Elyssa nodded.

"Nathaniel, can you return to the Vigil and inform Seneschal Varel what we've discovered?" she asked. He gave her a look asking why he was being sent on an errand. It kind of reminded her of Alistair's reaction to the order for them to scale the Tower of Ishal back in Ostagar. "It's either you or Oghren," she said simply. Nathaniel sighed softly. Oghren was a good fighter, better than most in combat, but Elyssa wasn't sure she could trust him to take a message back to Varel. Nathaniel, at least, would be capable. 

"Just like old times, eh Commander?" Oghren asked, looking up at her. 

"Oghren, our adventures after the Anvil weren't that long ago," she reminded him. "Maybe eight months? Now, Anders, can you check her injuries before we get going?"

"Sure, I can do that," he responded.

"But--"

"If you're going to do this, I need to make sure you're fit to fight," Elyssa said sternly. "As Commander, I will not send anyone into battle who is not fit for combat." There were a few more protests from the dwarf, whose name Elyssa still didn't have, but after a bit of persuasion she finally let Anders cast a few healing spells to fix the worst of her injuries. After that, they were off.

"I don't know much about Kal'Hirol, except what the others from the Legion told me," the dwarf admitted when they looked out over the fortress. "It used to be important, a center of learning for the smith caste. When the fortress was lost, a lot of what the smiths had learned was lost with it. They've never built anything quite like Kal'Hirol since." They made their way down to the base, only for the dwarf to run off toward another.

"It's Jukka! He's hurt, bad," she explained quickly. 

"S-Sigrun…?" the other dwarf, Jukka, asked softly. He really did sound like he was hurt. And, thanks to him, she knew her newest companion's name. 

"Yes, it's me. Be still, and try not to talk." Elyssa looked over at Anders, who shook his head. There was nothing he could do. This man, like the recruit Rowland, was beyond healing. 

"Is he from the Legion as well?" Elyssa asked.

"Yes. I did not expect to find anyone this far in," Sigrun admitted. "Can you do anything?"

"No… I feel my death upon me," Jukka admitted slowly. "And it is such a sweet release…"

"No! I have bandages, I can help…" Sigrun insisted. 

"You must listen!" Jukka all but ordered. "The… the broodmothers. They are breeding. I saw an… an army." Shit. This was bad. "You… you must… you must stop them. But… but beware the children. They are abominations, even among darkspawn…" He gasped in pain, and Elyssa glanced at Anders again. Wasn't there something he could do, at least to ease the pain?

"What… what children? Whose children?" Sigrun asked. Elyssa was confused as well. He had basically said the children were some sort of darkspawn, but she'd never encountered them before. And a new kind of darkspawn was not good.

"Forgive me…" Jukka said before collapsing, dead. 

"Ancestors look kindly on you, brother…" Sigrun said softly before getting back to her feet. "We have to finish what the Legion started. Those broodmothers need to be destroyed."

"Agreed," Elyssa said. Before she could continue speaking, her eyes narrowed and a hand went to her sword. "Alpha incoming." The others readied their weapons. Genlocks came from their hiding places, and then a batch of shrieks appeared too, each with an alpha leading them. 

"The Legion got this far with no trouble," Sigrun admitted when they reached the fortress's front door. "We got careless, and complacent, and stormed the main entrance, up those stairs. It was a disaster. The darkspawn were waiting. They turned the thaig's old defenses against us."

"Traps?" Elyssa asked. 

"And more. Ancient dwarven ingenuity used by the very monsters it was intended to kill." She looked back up at the door. "We need to learn from the Legion's mistake. Avoid the main door."

"Is there another way in?" Fight smarter, not harder, after all.

"Most of the old dwarven fortresses had hidden side entrances," Sigrun said. "I bet this one does too. We just need to find it." 

"Then start searching," Elyssa said, a troubled look on her face. "But be careful. I'm sensing something that's… not making sense."

"What do you mean?" Anders asked.

"You've started sensing them too, right?" Elyssa countered. "The darkspawn, I mean." He nodded. "I've only been a Warden since Ostagar, but I'm starting to be able to tell the difference between the types. Alphas versus emissaries and such. But this… These are different. I've never sensed these before… and a new kind of darkspawn is almost a scary thought. So keep your guard up." It wasn't long before her suspicions proved true. They were similar to giant beetles, but with heads and faces that resembled the faces of genlocks or hurlocks. Grinning bug-like monsters. And it gave Elyssa a strange thought.

"No one knew how darkspawn bred until we discovered that broodmother by following Hespith," Elyssa said once the darkspawn grubs were defeated. "But we still don't know anything about their development…"

"Why are you so interested?" Anders asked. "They come at us, we kill them. Simple as that."

"Because the more we know about our enemy, the better we can arm ourselves against them," Elyssa reasoned. "When the broodmothers were discovered, we learned about darkspawn breeding grounds. Maybe if we learn more, we can create new ways of attacking… Maybe even a way to eliminate them entirely, as everyone thought they had been after the Fourth Blight. But that will have to wait until we figure out what's been going on here." A switch was found inside a wall carving, and a hole in the ground reminded Elyssa vaguely of the one in the first floor of the Tower of Ishal, back at Ostagar. The second Ostagar memory of the day. But still, she said nothing, and they all dived in. 

They were able to catch the darkspawn by surprise thanks to the side entrance, and by taking out the darkspawn with the control rod they were able to make the right that much shorter. Elyssa took the control rod and used it on one of the golems in the next passageway, gaining an ally. Though the golems brought back Caridin's words. That each golem was a dwarf who had either volunteered or been forced to lay on the Anvil of the Void. It was unfortunate that the paragon smith had never discovered a way to reverse the process. Perhaps she could bring that to King Bhelen's attention someday.

They went down another set of stairs and saw what Elyssa could only have described as a Fade memory, like what she'd seen at Soldier's Peak. But dwarves had no connection to the Fade. How was this possible? 

In the next room was another memory, one dwarf giving a speech to a crowd about being treated like nothing and swept away, about fighting. 

"Were these… casteless?" she wondered aloud. That was all she could think of. She'd seen how the casteless in Orzammar were treated before Bhelen let them join the Legion. It wasn't a surprise to find that it extended so far back. But… It was only recently that King Bhelen had allowed the casteless to fight in the Deep Roads. Something else was going on here. Actually… she glanced at Sigrun and noticed the mark on her right cheek, the mark of the casteless. She hadn't noticed it before because the angular tattoos around her cheekbones and on her forehead had been more attention-grabbing. 

Up another set of stairs, and they watched a memory of a man pleading with a woman to leave Kal'Hirol. Maybe she could get some researchers from the Circle to figure out what had happened here. Battles tended to attract spirits, she remembered. The Dalish storyteller had said as much, months ago. But dwarves weren't supposed to dream. It'd be interesting to know what was really happening here. Down another hallway, they ran into another talking darkspawn, leading a band of its own and breaking Elyssa's train of thought.

"Ignore the shadows! They do no harm! Kill the intruders!" it ordered. Of course, it was eventually killed as well. They went into the next room.

"What's that?" Sigrun asked when Elyssa bent to pick up a book.

"It looks like… a journal of some kind," she admitted, carefully opening it. "From… from the First Blight!" 

"Wait, really?" Anders asked, intrigued. 

"Two Pluitanis: More southern thaigs have fallen. Varen Thaig and Kal'Barosh are overrun," she read. "Four thousand lives lost. The darkspawn are almost at the gates of Kal'Hirol. The fortress must be evacuated." She turned the page, carefully, and kept reading. "Four Pluitanis: There will be an exodus to Orzammar. Many nobles are appalled, Orzammar being a trade city so close to the surface. They fear losing their stone sense to the surface vapors--a ridiculous notion. But Orzammar is the easiest to defend."

"This is amazing," Anders said, sounding awe-struck. "Almost no records survived the destruction of the First Blight. Keep reading!"

Elyssa just rolled her eyes. "Seven Pluitanis: Scouts have sighted the horde. It is vast. To outrun the darkspawn, the commanders say we must leave now with nothing beyond bare essentials. Addendum: I have volunteered to remain behind with a contingent of men. We'll hold off the darkspawn so others can escape. Ancestors have mercy." The turn of another page. "Nine Pluitanis: The casteless are still here, forgotten in the panic. They are five hundred strong. If even half can be inspired to fight, they'll make an army. There is a chance, a small chance, that this will make the difference. Ten Pluitanis: Two hundred men and women. Ancestors grant that two hundred is enough." She paused again to turn the page. "Fifteen Pluitanis: The darkspawn have pushed us back to the inner keep. Only a handful of us survive, but we've held them back five days. We could not have done this without the casteless--no, not casteless. To call them 'casteless' would be a mistake. Their sacrifice must not be forgotten." 

"What does that mean?" he wondered. 

"Probably that there's a record somewhere in here of those dwarves who gave their lives so the rest could escape," Elyssa reasoned, closing the journal and putting it carefully in her pack. 

"Can't you sense the corrupted spiders?" Sigrun asked later as they defeated yet another ambush.

"It's harder for me to sense blighted animals," Elyssa admitted. "Darkspawn are easy because of the amount of corruption within them, and other Wardens are almost as, but the animals? Not so much. I'm still learning about all that comes after the Joining, actually."

"Aren't you Ferelden's Warden-Commander?" The dwarf was skeptical.

"Only because I was the last Warden in all Ferelden," Elyssa said with a scoff. "And, well, uniting the races of Thedas to fight the Blight didn't hurt. I've only been a Warden for about a year and a half now. And Riordan never got to tell me what happens to senior Wardens…" They had found his body in Denerim's streets after the battle, a sight that Elyssa had never forgotten. And one she refused to entertain while there was work to be done.

They came to a large set of doors inset with a design of a dwarven helm on each one, and through the doors were met with what was possibly the most bizarre sight yet. Darkspawn fighting other darkspawn. 

"Well… this is different," Anders commented. That was one word for it. 

"Press the attack!" ordered what Elyssa could only assume to be the darkspawn leader. "The Lost is mine." The other party of darkspawn, which also seemed to be storming the fortress, followed after their leader, leaving the room empty. 

Oghren and Anders began mocking each other, which just gave Elyssa a headache. "Stop it, both of you!" she snapped. One hand went to her temple. "Ugh, damn broodmothers…"

"Are you alright?" Anders asked. 

"It's the strength of the taint in the broodmothers," she admitted. "Makes my headache worse the closer we get." She sighed. "At least they're not as bad as the archdemon. Let's keep moving, we'll all be better off once they're dead."

"Wait, they? As in more than one?"

"Yep. I think I'm sensing three of them, actually…" she said carefully. "And something else, but I'm not sure what." 

In the next room, they found a ball that looked like it was made out of raw lyrium, chained in midair. None of them could figure out its purpose or how to release it, however, so they ignored it for the moment. A room off to the side revealed a tablet with the names of each of the dwarves who stood to defend Kal'Hirol during the First Blight, which Elyssa took. The dwarf who'd been hired to work on the walls, Voldrik, and his brother Dworkin, were representatives of Orzammar. Perhaps they could do something with this. 

They found a man the darkspawn had captured who traded something he found for his freedom, and in the room beyond witnessed one of the grubs from before devour a hurlock, and transform. It grew new legs, and some sort of claws. Elyssa shuddered with revulsion. Hopefully these things were specific to a certain broodmother and would die out with it. 

They found a hallway covered in the fleshy stuff that meant a broodmother was nearby, and hidden inside the gunk were what Elyssa could only compare to a spider's egg sacks. And each one sprouted one of the grubs. The hall led them even deeper into Kal'Hirol. And there, after going down another long tunnel( _What is it with dwarves and long tunnels?_ ), they saw, of all things, a red-hot golem battling an invading darkspawn. The golem then picked up the darkspawn invader, holding it before another.

"The Architect sends many, but does not come himself!" the other darkspawn said. "He is a coward! I will kill you, and he will know that he has failed to destroy the Lost. He will know that the Mother will tear him apart!" The Lost? The Mother? Oh great. They were dealing with _factions_ of darkspawn. The golem killed the darkspawn it had been holding, and the other one turned toward them. Was this one calling himself The Lost? "Who comes now? I can feel you, but you are no darkspawn. What trickery is he planning?"

 _So they can still sense us, and recognize that we're different,_ Elyssa observed silently. That was good to know. _And if this new thing with the talking darkspawn hadn't happened, we never would've known,_ she begrudgingly admitted. 

"You will die! As all who serve the Architect will die! The Mother demands it!" the Lost ranted before attacking. With its pet golem. Perfect. It wasn't an easy fight, but it wasn't as hard as the archdemon had been either. And odds were that it was protecting the broodmothers that Elyssa could sense. Her suspicion was confirmed when four tentacles burst through the fleshy stuff before them.

"What was **that**?" Anders demanded. He asked a lot of questions.

"It's how the broodmothers defend themselves," Elyssa explained simply. "Keep your guard up, I can't tell where they're going to try to hit next." The tentacles kept appearing into the next room, which had a hole in the middle with a chain on each corner. Looking up, Elyssa saw that the chains were holding the raw lyrium creation in place above them, and a glance down told her what she could do with it. "The broodmothers are below," she said quickly. "Keep the tentacles off me while I cut the chains." But after two chains were cut, the ball fell, and the shock wave of all the lyrium breaking open killed all three broodmothers.

"We did it," Sigrun said breathlessly. "If the rest of the Legion were alive, I know… I know they would honor you in some way."

"I am sorry so many had to die," Elyssa said after a moment. And she meant it. If the Vigil hadn't been attacked when it was, other Wardens probably would have cleared this place already.

"I used to wish I could get away from the others," Sigrun admitted. "Now I'm all alone and I just want them back. Silly, isn't it?" She took a breath before speaking again. "What's curious is that we seem to be caught between two… factions of darkspawn. I've never heard of such a thing. The darkspawn are by nature vicious, and they have always fought amongst each other. But for there to be two organized factions… this is something else," the dwarf admitted.

"I noticed that too. It worries me," she admitted. At least she wasn't the only one who had noticed. 

"Good. It's not just me then. Something has changed in the darkspawn, and I don't think I like it." She sighed softly. "Well, it's something to ponder. Especially when you need to be reminded that impending doom is always right around the corner."

"What will you do now?" Elyssa asked.

"Oh, I'll probably disappear into the bowels of the Deep Roads, never to be seen again," the dwarf said dismissively. "One good thing about the Deep Roads is that you never run out of darkspawn to fight."

"Perhaps you would consider coming with me?" the Commander asked after a moment. 

"Go… with you? But that would be against my vow--and against my plan to disappear into the deep, unmourned and forgotten," she clarified.

"I am looking for Grey Wardens. Why not join us?"

"Be a Grey Warden?" she echoed. "Is that allowed? Can you be both part of the Legion and a Grey Warden?"

"You'll still fight darkspawn, and likely die doing so," she said, hoping that would be the most decisive argument.

"And I'd be more effective at killing the darkspawn, won't I?" Sigrun reasoned. "Hah! How does one say no to this? I'll follow you," she decided. "You seem an alright sort, and I'm better off with you at my back than alone. Let's go, then. The darkspawn await!" 

"Welcome aboard, recruit," Elyssa said with a grin. A serious look returned to her face as she looked back at Oghren and Anders. "That's it then. We've cleared this breeding ground. Let's make for the Vigil." 

On their way through the farmlands they stumbled across a farm that was under attack by bandits. As the new Arl of Amaranthine, Elyssa wasn't just about to let that stand. So, of course, she intervened. The woman they rescued gave them some coins in thanks before making her way to Vigil's Keep.

The dwarf working on the walls, Voldrik, told her that the quarry nearby didn't have the right kind of stone, and asked her to find some with granite. Another dwarf she spoke to, Voldrik's brother Dworkin, claimed to be the one responsible for blowing up the darkspawn in the gate when she'd first arrived. He asked her for lyrium sand, and then he and his brother said that they'd get the tablet from Kal'Hirol sent back to Orzammar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I finally found a new job a few days ago. New chapters are going to be slower coming out until I get into my new routine. Thanks in advance for your patience~! And, as always, thanks for reading. :D


	66. For the Sake of a Friend

"All rise! The Warden-Commander and Arl of Amaranthine enters!" she heard Seneschal Varel say when she entered the throne room. She was surprised by the number of people waiting for her, wondering exactly what was going on. A path had been made for her around the central fire pit, and she made her way down it to the front of the room. "I've held it off as long as I could, but you hold the right of high justice in your hand. Certain matters of court must be decided."

"A little warning would've been nice…" she muttered to him, not appreciating this surprise at all.

"There is a matter with Ser Temmerly that simply couldn't wait," he admitted ruefully. 

"Anything I should know?"

"By custom, the claimants make their case to you," he explained. "I'll advise you after, then you rule. The seneschal of the Vigil can hold court as well, if the arl demands it."

"Let's get started then," she said with a soft sigh. 

"Be seated. The Warden-Commander will first hear the matter of the crown against the sheepherder Alec," he announced to the people who had gathered. There was a rustling sound as women collected their skirts, and a few of the chairs, which had been pulled out specifically for this, scraped against the stone floor. The sound grated on Elyssa's ears.

"On behalf of the crown, I submit that Alec stole two bushels of grain bound for the garrison in Amaranthine," Captain Garavel reported. "When confronted by soldiers, he confessed. The punishment for theft from the crown is death by hanging." 

"What say you, Alec?" Varel asked, his voice taking on a gentle tone.

"My sheep were slaughtered by the darkspawn," the man explained nervously. "My… my family was starving. I ask for mercy, Commander. Mercy."

"The poor bugger," Varel muttered. "If he'd stolen from anyone besides the crown, he'd escape with a flogging."

"If the problem is starvation, hanging him won't fix it," she reasoned. "Join the army and your life will be spared, your family fed," she said to the sheepherder.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he said before being led away.

"The next matter is of a civil nature," the seneschal informed her. "Lady Liza Pacton is the sovereign of Teyrn's Down, she--"

"I prefer to speak for myself," a woman said, approaching. "The old Arl Rendon Howe made certain promises to me. Some of these he committed to paper. I was given the right to the incomes of the southern bridge."

"And what part did you take in Howe's conspiracies, eh, Liza?" asked one of the noblemen as he too approached. "To get such a fruitful prize. I am Ser Derren, and it's my land she seeks. Taken from me because I was one of the few nobles who stood against Teyrn Loghain."

"Commander, Ser Derren is an ally," Garavel informed her, "and Amaranthine has precious few who support you wholeheartedly. 

"If there is any hope at persuading more nobles to your cause, you must be fair-minded," the seneschal reminded her.

"Arl Howe was a traitor," Elyssa said without hesitation. "Ser Derren keeps his holding."

"Bann Esmerelle will hear of this," Liza threatened. 

"The Commander has spoken," Varel said sternly. "The matter is resolved. Bring in Ser Temmerly the Ox." Two guards brought a large, armored man into the hall.

"Ser Temmerly stands accused of a murder most foul," Captain Garavel said, an edge to his voice. "You and your men came upon Ser Tamra in the dead of night and did cravenly ambush her."

"You dare too much, Captain Garavel," Temmerly said in a voice that would have frightened others. Elyssa, however, was unaffected. No one person could be as terrifying as the archdemon, or the night before that battle. "I am noble born, and will not submit to your accusations."

"You are accused of murder, ser!" Garavel protested. "My soldiers found you fleeing while Ser Tamra's blood was still hot."

"There's a great deal of traffic on the roads," Temmerly said, sounding a bit smug. "Not all of it human. And it's so dangerous at night. We were merely in a hurry to reach a nice, safe place." Elyssa found she didn't believe him. Someone called an ox wasn't named such because they were worried about finding a safe place. 

"You mock this court with your denials!" Garavel snapped.

"You have nothing, **Captain**. Release me, Commander--it's the common lout's word against mine." And yet, Elyssa found that she trusted her guard-captain more than this nobleman.

"You will recall Ser Tamra as the knight who warned us about the conspiracy," Seneschal Varel reminded her. She remembered. And this meant only one thing. Tamra had been correct. "Ser Temmerly was a confederate of Arl Howe."

"The conspiracy is real. And it has claimed its first victim."

"I fear you are correct." The evidence was only some bloody clothing, which Elyssa knew wasn't enough to execute him for. Not without getting more distrust from the nobles.

"Imprison him during our investigation," she said. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Temmerly growled. "You can't do this!"

"Oh, but the Commander very much can," Varel said calmly. "This session of the arling's court is over!" he announced. "And Maker help me, I hope the next one is easier than this," he muttered.

"Good. Because another wishes to undertake the Joining," she said with her half-grin. 

"I hope they fare better than Ser Mhairi," Varel admitted. "I'll make the preparations."

Sigrun survived as well.

The sergeant waved her down before admitting that there might be darkspawn trapped below the Vigil, thanks to Dworkin's explosives. It was clear to Elyssa that she wasn't a fan. So she went below and waited for the soldiers to clear the rubble before going hunting through the cellars. There was a mabari down there, with a note to its collar. Elyssa was, unfortunately, unable to comfort the hound. A few rooms in, they discovered a room full of ghouls and human prisoners, which Elyssa promptly released after killing the ghouls. A room off the cells had something even stranger. Some sort of crypt. It was in the crypt that she found a bow with a rather familiar crest imprinted into the wood. The crest of the Howe family. 

"Is this what I think it is?" Nathaniel said when he saw it. She handed him the bow. "It is! That's the Howe crest burned into the wood right there. This is my grandfather's bow. Or, rather, my grandfather was the last to use it. It was originally made for an ancestor during the Exalted Marches."

"Well, it's yours now," she said simply. 

"Thank you," he responded. "It's good to have a part of my family's legacy again, something to be proud of." 

In the next room, however, things took a turn for the grim. The woman who wrote the note that was on the hound had become a ghoul. When Nathaniel saw her, his face fell. "No… No, Adria…" he said softly. "We have to help her. There must be some way… Adria?" Before any discussion could be had, a batch of ghouls attacked with her. A letter near the door attracted Elyssa's attention after the fight. 

"My lord Howe," she read, her voice softer than any save perhaps Oghren had ever heard before. "Some of the men are not pleased with your plan. They will incite others against you. For the plan to succeed, our forces must be united. If word gets out, if even one of them informs Cousland, it will be your head on a plate." 

"So, not everyone supported my father's attack," Nathaniel observed. "I wonder what methods he used to silence the ones who were against it?" he asked flatly. At the end of the cellars was a cave-in.

"You murdered a slew of darkspawn there," the sergeant said as she approached, sounding awed. "I… well, you hear the stories about you and the Wardens. But to see it first hand…"

"The other Wardens didn't inspire you?" Elyssa asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, they did too," she assured her. "Even though the attack was a surprise, they killed droves of darkspawn. Just ask the poor maids who have to clean it up. But you… you're something else. Anyway, it looks like the explosives caved this section in. I brought along Master Voldrik--"

"So this is how you humans ply your stonecraft?" the dwarf said disdainfully. "Disgraceful, that is. What, this would barely last a few centuries. I wager the passages may go far enough to connect to the Deep Roads."

"So the darkspawn came up from below?" she reasoned.

"Aye. Orlesian lads would've had a terrible surprise--explains how experienced men fell to the darkspawn." That it did. "This is a grave matter. If we don't shut these tunnels, the darkspawn can attack from below again."

"Andraste's blood, there are basement entrances throughout the keep," the sergeant said, sounding a little panicked. "There's no way to defend against that."

"Then we follow the tunnels and hope to find a single point to block off," Voldrik said in an attempt to calm the woman. "Never you fear, lass. With the Warden's muscle and my stonecraft, we'll find a way."

"Let me know as soon as you clear the passage."

"We'll need some time, but as soon as we clear it, we'll let you know," the sergeant agreed. With that, they returned to the surface and the keep. When she entered, Felsi of all people stormed inside demanding to see Oghren, then started berating him for becoming a Warden before leaving again. Nathaniel spoke a bit about his grandfather, who had attempted the Joining but never contacted his family again after. Now that he knew about the Joining itself, Nathaniel suspected his grandfather had died from it. Sigrun mentioned a spyglass, the qunari invention that would let one see far distances in detail. Then Elyssa decided to return to the city to see if the Dark Wolf character had gotten the information she requested of him.

On their way to the stairs, however, another dwarf woman ran into Sigrun. 

"Oh, sorry about that, I… why you ungrateful, backstabbing duster!" 

"Sigrun, what's going on?" Elyssa said cautiously. 

"It's in the past," she said quickly. "I don't think--"

"Name's Mischa," the other woman said angrily. "I was a merchant until she ruined me. I had her running errands, trying to keep one duster out of trouble. I thought I was doing a good deed. Then I hear House Bemot's lost a gold statuette of their Paragon. Next day, it turns up in my shop."

"Every business has its ups and downs," Elyssa said carefully.

"House Bemot could have had me executed!" Mischa said to Sigrun, ignoring Elyssa's words. "You could've spoken up, told them the truth."

"And then Beraht would have killed me," Sigrun insisted.

"No matter. I trust Sigrun," Elyssa said sternly.

"I trusted her too." Mischa said. "I have to deliver these skins to the tanner. Need to make a living somehow. Out of my way, brand."

"It's in the past," Sigrun said with a sigh before Elyssa could ask. "We should move on, Commander." 

"Are you alright Sigrun?" Elyssa asked when they had returned to the Keep.

"I didn't think I'd see Mischa again," the dwarf admitted. "After all, she's exiled and I'm in the Legion. Maybe the ancestors thought it'd be funny to see me get yelled at in the streets."

"She was too hard on you," the Commander responded gently.

"No, she wasn't," Sigrun protested quietly. "It's all true. Mischa caught me stealing a leg of nug once, and instead of telling the shopkeeper, she… paid for it. She said the casteless turn to crime because we have no options. If she could help one casteless girl…" She sighed sadly. "But I proved that I'm scum, just as they always said."

"You're not the person you used to be," Elyssa insisted.

"The Legion changes people," she agreed. "Some change for the better, others for the worse, but all of us change. I know now, having lost many friends, that friendship isn't something to be squandered. Perhaps I could make amends? Mischa said something about working for a tanner? I could visit, just to talk."

"We can go, if you'd like," Elyssa said. She still had business in the city, after all. So many trips to Amaranthine, but at least it was close. 

"Thank you," was the reply. "I should get some rest. Busy days ahead of us." 

The next day, Elyssa made the trek back to the city, both to look for Mischa and to find information about the missing Warden, Kristoff. The owner of The Crown and Lion tavern said he hadn't seen Kristoff in almost a week, and then gave her the key to his room. Inside, they found a map with information pointing to a place called the Blackmarsh. And they ran into Mischa on the way back down.

"You? Going to get me kicked out of Amaranthine too?" she accused as they approached. 

"I know that n-nothing I say will make things better, so I… want to give you this," Sigrun said shakily, handing something to Mischa.

"A ring? What is this, a proposal? You're not my type," Mischa said coldly.

"It… it'll fetch a fair price, even on the surface," Sigrun insisted. "T-to help you rebuild your life."

"This looks like the crest of House Vollney," the other dwarf observed. "Stole this off a noble, did you?"

"Keep the ring, Sigrun," Elyssa said gently, guessing at how important the ring was to her new friend. "I'll give her some coin."

"How much are we talking?" Mischa asked, suddenly interested. "I recon this thing's worth at least twenty sovereigns."

"Twenty it is then," the Commander agreed, handing her the coins. 

"You've a true friend here, Sigrun. Try not to ruin it. And here's your ring--it must be important to you."

"It is," Sigrun confirmed, a small smile on her face finally.

"This will… go a long way. I could start another business." Mischa looked up from the coin and allowed herself a small smile as well. "You've done right, Sigrun."

An elf woman attracted Anders' attention in the commons and gave him some information, then left. When Anders explained, he said he was looking for his phylactary so he could finally be free of the templars. Elyssa agreed to assist him. But in the warehouse in question, all they found were templars. It was, in fact, the same templar woman that had come with Alistair a while ago.

"And here I almost believed the infamous Anders wouldn't take the bait," she said.

"Ah, yes, I suppose I should have known it would be you," he said with a sigh. 

"You made a poor choice with this one, Commander," the templar woman said to Elyssa. "Anders will never submit, not to us and not to you."

"He has made a fine Grey Warden, so far," she insisted, her voice taking on a hard edge. 

"So far, yes. I'll make sure that this murderer is never a bother to anyone again."

"What? No, you can't arrest me! King Alistair allowed my conscription!" Anders protested. 

"The Chantry's authority supersedes the crown in this matter," the templar insisted. "You cannot hide within the Grey Wardens' ranks."

"No. He stays with us." Elyssa's tone said that this was not open for debate, but the templar insisted.

"Hardly surprising. The Grey Wardens have ever been a haven for criminals and maleficar." She looked back at Anders. "I do not know how you inspire such loyalty, Anders, but it will avail you naught. Now you come with us." Of course, the templar woman and the man she'd brought with her didn't stand a chance against the Hero of Ferelden. 

"I'm not looking forward to telling Alistair about this," Elyssa admitted with a sigh, turning her back on the bodies of the templars. There was a lot she needed to inform her husband about.


	67. The Wending Wood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've done this chapter as I played the quests, but for proper story progression, you'll want to get Velanna before you clear out the Silverite mines because there's some dialogue that gets missed due to her absence. I just... forgot that you have to go back to the camp to find her. Basically, if the door to the Silverite Mine is closed, you're still missing things. 
> 
> Also, I'm sorry for taking so long on this! I started a new job less than two weeks after posting the previous chapter, and I'm finally settling into the new rhythm. Thanks for being so patient, those of you who're reading this regularly.

Elyssa decided to deal with the smuggler problem as long as she was in the city. The one in the market led her on a chase that ended at a hut just beyond the gate, and led to a cave below. The other entrance led out to, of all places, The Crown and Lion pub within the city. She informed the constable, and then left for the Forlorn Cove, where a group of bandits was waiting with a man's daughter for ransom. She'd convinced the men to hand over the girl before giving them the coin, and then, of course, she dispatched them. No need for kidnapping bandits on her lands. 

Then she followed the lead she'd gotten from the Dark Wolf, about a meeting between the nobles conspiring against her on one of the farms. Of course, there were a good half-dozen Crows there, as well as another half-dozen mercenaries. A quick stop back at Vigil's Keep to resupply, only to be stopped by the guardswoman who had been overseeing the clearing of the rubble under the Vigil. So, instead of heading off anywhere else as she'd originally wanted to, it was down into the Deep Roads. Again. 

Oghren continued to hit on Sigrun, who ended up asking if she'd prefer women after she was done with him. Elyssa couldn't help but laugh. She'd found people who could actually go word-for-word with Oghren. It was fun, listening to them. 

The further down they went, the more nervous Elyssa got. What if they didn't find any way to seal off this entrance of the Deep Roads? The Wardens had Soldier's Peak again, sort of. They could move back to it if they needed to. But there were too many people in the city to evacuate because of a Deep Roads entrance. Where would they go? Denerim didn't have room for them, that much she knew for sure. Parts of the city were still in ruins, even now. 

And she still had to let Alistair know about that templar woman.

Not only did she have to worry about darkspawn, but apparently the Avaar had worked with the dwarves to seal a demon down here too. She sighed softly, running a hand over her face. 

"Darkspawn and now a demon? The Maker sure has a sense of humor," she muttered. They came to a room with no visible exits, and the demon showed itself to them. It escaped down one of the paths, opening the wall as it fled and giving them a new path to follow. They found a group of hurlocks with an emissary, and an Ogre Commander, which Elyssa hadn't seen before. The demon from before reappeared as a duplicate of the ogre, which they defeated, of course. Nearby, they found a set of three doors that the dwarf was able to close, claiming they'd buy the Vigil a decade if they were lucky. Elyssa decided to use the keys they'd found below on the keyholes in the crypt in the basement, and the three corpses beyond the door came to life. After defeating the corpses, Elyssa made sure to lock the crypt door behind her. She would have to bring that up with the Seneschal, about keeping people out of there. 

At least the rain had stopped. 

"May I point out that you're alright?" Anders asked when they went back into the Vigil. 

"What brought this on?" she asked. 

"Really, when the templars came for me, you could've decided I wasn't worth the trouble," he explained. "But I apparently am worth the trouble. Considering I'm usually a **lot** of trouble, I should be grateful." The slight bitterness to his voice did not go unnoticed.

"I'm glad to have you around," she said. 

"And I'm glad to be around," he admitted with a laugh. "When you recruited me, I thought I was jumping from the frying pan into the fire. But being a Warden is almost tolerable. It's a pleasant stroll through the park--with darkspawn!" Once again, she was struck by how similar Anders was to Alistair.

"Coupled with an early death, yes," she said seriously. 

"Well, nothing's perfect," Anders said with a shrug. "I thought it was worth mentioning. Thank you, Commander. For everything." 

"You're welcome," she said before he turned and walked away. He'd taken to studying the headless golem that had become one of her trophies, and he went back to that. It was late by now, so Elyssa made her way upstairs to her chambers in order to write that letter to Alistair. 

_Alistair,_

_It's been barely a week since the darkspawn raided Vigil's Keep. Earlier this evening I finally found out how. There was a Deep Roads entrance right under us. That's how they were able to sneak up on the Orlesian Wardens. We were lucky enough to find a set of dwarven doors that should keep the darkspawn at bay for at least a few years, though Voldrik, one of the dwarves King Bhelen sent, says we might get a decade if we're lucky._

_I also managed to root out a conspiracy against me. They were Rendon Howe's supporters, and I managed to follow a lead to one of the farms. Hopefully, that's the end of it._

_There was also a broodmother nest, with three of them in it. They're dead now, but that explains why Amaranthine was having such a problem with the darkspawn. Wynne was also here, just a quick stop before she continued on to Cumberland. The Libertarian mages want to pull away from the Chantry entirely._

_But what you need to know is that your templar friend came back for Anders. She laid a trap for him and tried to take him back to the Circle, after he survived his Joining. When I refused to hand him over, she attacked. You can probably guess what happened after that. I hope she wasn't anyone important, but I wasn't about to stand aside and let her take him._

_The recruit that acted as my guide, Mhairi, died. But out of the five Joinings I've performed so far, she's the only one. Either I've been really lucky, or I'm just good at picking recruits. One of them is Nathaniel Howe, actually. He's turned out to be a good Warden, so don't think badly of him. I don't._

_I wish you could be here to fight at my side again. It'd be just like old times. But, once I figure out what's going on with these talking darkspawn, I'll be back at your side. I think, and Sigrun, one of my other recruits, agrees, that we seem to be caught between two warring tribes of darkspawn. Like the history lessons about the Allamari. I'll try to get this figured out quickly so I can rejoin you in the palace. If you get tired of being in Denerim without me, you could pay Fergus a visit. It wouldn't look odd for you to visit your wife's family, right?_

_I miss you. Keep your eyes and ears open, my husband. I fear there is more trouble on the horizon._

_Elyssa Cousland_

She paused, scratching out _Cousland_ and writing _Therin_ in its place. She was Elyssa Therin now that she'd married Alistair. She was still getting used to it. She carefully folded the letter and slipped it into an envelope, using her new wax seal stamp to close it. She technically had three, but she had left the one bearing the Cousland crest in her room at the palace. She'd brought the one bearing the Therin crest with her from Denerim, for personal use, and had one with the seal of the Warden-Commander on it for business-related letters. She left the finished letter on her desk and put her armor on the stand before falling into bed and pulling the blankets over her. Tomorrow, she decided, would be when they descended into the Wending Wood, to both search for Ines as Wynne had asked and to help with the issues around darkspawn and the Wending Wood trade routes. 

But the first thing they saw in the Wending Wood wasn't darkspawn. It was another batch of bandits. Of course. She found a scroll on one of the boxes and frowned at the contents. 

"What's it say?" Anders asked, peering over her shoulder. Oghren, for once being smart, pulled the mage back by the wrist. It was one thing when she'd elbowed Alistair for trying to read over her shoulder, but Anders wasn't armored. If Elyssa elbowed him in the stomach with her armor on, he'd end up with more than just a bit of bruising.

"Someone named Mayor Grisby was ordering these men to attack a clan of Dalish elves," she summarized. "Looks like I'll have to take care of that once this is fixed." Everything was so complicated now that she had to run things… She pocketed the letter, then ran the fingers of one hand through her hair, finally cut short again. 

"Something wrong? Other than this mess with the elves," Nathanial wondered.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "There's a lot of darkspawn around, and they feel nearby, but I can't see them. And I've never known darkspawn to show restraint when there's a target nearby."

Further in, they found more of the bandits getting attacked by what appeared to be a Sylvan that had caught fire. Not burning, not anymore at least, but smoldering in places. She remembered the sylvans in the Brecilian Forest. They'd been angry enough to begin with, but to catch fire too? That was bound to make any spirit mad. And, being a forest, there were more sylvans hiding about. 

"I thought I already told you not to touch the Rashvine," she snapped at Oghren when she spotted him wandering a little too close to the plant in question. He gave her a look, as if asking why he shouldn't. "It's called Rashvine for a reason," she reminded him before walking away. "But if you do touch it, don't come whining to me about it!" she added over her shoulder. She was his commander first, his friend second. In the field, at least. 

At the far side of the bridge, she was met by a man in leather armor raving about an elf who was making the trees come alive. Elyssa, who knew what sylvans really were, took his words with a grain of salt. Until an elf appeared on the cliff above, with the help of what looked like some kind of nature magic. 

"Another scavenger here to prey on the misfortunes of others?" the elf accused. She had her hair pulled back with some sort of hair tie, and was wearing what Elyssa recognized as Chasind robes. "No, you are too well armed. Here for me then," she rationalized. "You will not drive me from these forests. The shems could not do it, the darkspawn could not, and you will fare no better." 

"Why would I try to drive you away?" Elyssa asked carefully. 

"Your kind have been hounding me for months!" the elf insisted. "You killed my friends, and the merchants kidnapped my sister!" That explained a lot. "The caravans are only the beginning. I want Seranni returned to me or… or more will die. Deliver this message!" she demanded. "Consider this a warning." She used the same nature magic to vanish. Elyssa sighed softly. This was going to be one of _those_ days.

Following the path up the ruins led to what appeared to be some sort of ruined camp, with a Ferelden-made sword stuck deep in the ground a short ways outside it. 

"Don't these Dalish elves travel in packs?" Oghren asked as they approached it. "What's with the tiny camp?" He glanced around the camp, his gaze lingering on things that Elyssa had also noticed. "And here--looks like there was a bit of a fight, but no bodies. Just all these weapons." It bothered Elyssa too. "Something smells here, Commander, and it isn't me." She agreed, though she also thought that he still smelled. How did he already stink of alcohol? 

There were four freshly-dug graves at the edge of the camp, as out of place as all the discarded weaponry. Not just any weaponry, but Ferelden designs. There seemed to be nothing else there, though, so Elyssa led them back out of the camp the way they'd come. And down a side path was a granite deposit, like what Voldrik had asked for. She picked up a small piece and marked the location before moving on. The main path led straight to a darkspawn camp, which was a weird enough idea on its own. 

They managed to find Ines, the mage Wynne had been looking for, and she agreed to go to Cumberland once she found the seeds she'd come to the Wending Wood to find. Elyssa actually found the plant pretty easily, and after collecting a handful of seeds, took them to Ines. With the mage on her way to Cumberland, all that was left to do here was to track down the elf and get the whole story. 

They found one of the militia men, alive, sort of. He told them that they'd been attacked by the darkspawn, and the darkspawn had attacked the elves using their blades. He said that they were watching her, too. Finally, an explanation for that weird feeling she'd had since walking into this place. He asked her to kill him, which she did. He had already been infected by the Blight. The unnatural bruising on his skin told her that the taint had corrupted him too much, the Joining would not save him. Anders made a suggestion about going back to the camp and confronting the elf there, which Elyssa thought might work, so they went back to the abandoned camp they'd found earlier. But they didn't have to even go that far. The elf found them first.

"Why are you still here? I told you to stay away from me! I warned you! This place is not for you!" she yelled from atop another cliff. 

"I just want to talk," Elyssa said. 

"We have nothing to talk about," the elf insisted. "Stop hounding me!" She cast a spell that did actually turn the trees into sylvans, and then she fled into the abandoned mine. From the moment they entered, Elyssa knew something wasn't right. She could sense it. And it was giving her a headache. They went down the wooden ramp to the stone floor, and Elyssa froze in the center. 

"Commander?" Anders asked. She turned and looked up at a wooden overhang that had been built back when the mine was in use. There stood a strange darkspawn with a woman in armor. The darkspawn waved his hand, triggering a glyph on the ground. Before she could gather the energy for an area cleanse, she collapsed, out cold, along with the others. 

She didn't know how long it was before she woke. What she did know was that her headache hadn't gone away. In fact, it had gotten worse. Probably from smacking it on the stone earlier. 

"So you are the Commander of the Grey," said a voice above her. She turned to face it, and blanched. "Do not be frightened," the darkspawn said to her. "Your injuries have been tended to. I apologize for what I must do. I do not want to be your enemy." She narrowed her eyes. She didn't trust it. She would've been a fool to do so. "But now is not the time for this. Rest." With that last word, she felt herself being pulled into a magical sleep again. This time, she woke inside a cell, with Anders kneeling over her, his hands glowing with a spell.

"Oh, thank the Maker," he breathed when he she opened her eyes. "I was starting to worry that you wouldn't wake up." He backed away and she got to her feet, looking around at the cell they were in. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair again. 

"Why is it that every time I get knocked out, I end up in a cell?" she muttered. This was too much like what had happened during the Landsmeet, except this time she hadn't killed anyone important. At least, not yet.

"Are you alright?" asked an armored woman as she approached the cell. She had the same bruising that said she was already on her way to becoming a ghoul, as the militia man had been. "You have to understand, he's not trying to hurt you." Elyssa approached the cell door and looked closely at the girl.

"You're… the elf's sister, aren't you?" she realized. The girl's hair was done in a way that it hid her ears, but they were similar enough in appearance for Elyssa to make a good guess. And, framing her face, was the faint outline of the Dalish tattoos. This particular pattern was one that she'd seen before, in the camp with Zathrian's clan, now Lanaya's clan. 

"You know Velanna?" the girl asked, sounding surprised. "Where is she?"

"She was looking for you."

"Yes, I… I know she must be worried, but she wouldn't understand…" the girl admitted. Elyssa recalled that the other elf had said her name was Seranni. 

"Understand what?"

"It… it's complicated. I… don't have time to explain," Seranni said nervously. "I have to get you out of here before something bad happens. I don't want anyone else to be hurt. The darkspawn have your things. You can still get it all back if you're careful and clever." She paused and glanced over her shoulder at the door that presumably led beyond the room they were in. "They're going to come back to check on you. You have to hurry!"

"You're infected," Elyssa said finally. "You'll die if you don't get help." She had doubted that the Joining would help her, in this state, but she was still walking and talking like anyone else. Maybe there was a chance after all. The elf insisted that she'd be fine, and then unlocked the cell door before running off. 

"Everyone alright?" she asked, turning to the others. At least they'd all been given clothing to wear, instead of being stripped to their smallclothes like she'd been during the mess before the Landsmeet. 

"Anders has tried what he can, but even he couldn't fix this headache," Nathanial told her. She nodded. 

"Yeah, I think mine got worse when I smacked it on the ground after that first spell," she muttered, running a hand across the back of her head. "Let's find our stuff and get out of here. Who knows how long we were out…" If they'd been gone too long, Varel would've likely sent word to Weisshaupt requesting a new Commander, and she couldn’t have that. A couple of darkspawn entered and attacked, and defeating them was a little more difficult without weapons. They did, however, manage to take a longsword and a greatsword off two of the darkspawn, giving herself and Oghren weapons. They followed the hall the trio of darkspawn had come from, which led to some strange chamber. Elyssa found what appeared to be a journal of sorts.

"The Seeker collected two elves, male and female," she read. "The rest died defending their camp. Unfortunate, but a small price to pay. The male has since dashed his head on the wall. Odd. Don't all living beings strive for survival?" She tilted her head to one side, confused. This would mean that the talking darkspawn was responsible for the death of Velanna's clan. Further reading said her initial suspicion was right. She sighed, frustrated, and tossed the journal on the table again. A raised spot held a pair of switches and looked down into a lower room that seemed to be filled with some sort of poison gas. Messing with the switches eventually got the gas to disburse, clearing the lower room for them. 

At least they'd found enough leather armor for Nathaniel to wear, and a good bow for him to use. Hopefully Anders would be able to continue treating their wounds until the rest of them found new armor. Or the stuff they'd come in wearing. 

She fell against a wall, the sudden pain in her side blinding her to the fighting going on around her. She reached her left hand around to her right side, feeling something warm and wet. Blood? Before she could even try to remember what had happened, Anders was at her side and trying to knit the wound back together. The unnatural feeling of skin and muscle healing so fast helped clear her head. 

"Unfortunately, I can't do anything about the cloth," he said sheepishly, helping her back to her feet. She ran her hand across the wound, marveling at how there was just a faint scar left. 

"I'm not used to fighting unarmored," she admitted. She'd have to adjust to a more defensive style until she got her armor back. In the next room, they found what looked like a dwarf ghoul, wearing Oghren's armor. Of course, he wasn't happy about that. With Oghren's armor and weapon reclaimed, they continued on.

One of the Orlesian Wardens was in a side passage, off the next room. She hadn't expected to find any of them alive. He asked her to find the darkspawn that had crushed his legs and took his wedding ring, and to bring the ring to his wife. She protested, at first, wanting to bring him back to the surface with her. But she eventually agreed to his request, and it wasn't long before he collapsed, unconscious and near death. Even Anders had said there was nothing to be done for him.

In the next cavern, they found a darkspawn who had taken a liking to Nathaniel's bow and armor. Once again, easily reclaimed. And on a nearby corpse, Elyssa spotted something that Sigrun had mentioned before. A spyglass. And it was in pretty good shape, too. So, she cleaned it off and put it in the tube she had once carried the old treaties in. Now, of course, those treaties were in the vault at Vigil's Keep. 

Another cavern in, and Anders' things were found on the body of someone that reminded Elyssa of a Blight-sick mage. And not far from that one was another Blight-sick human with Elyssa's armor, along with her new sword, Kallak, and her shield, Partha. The rest of their items, the potions and poultices and things, they'd gradually collected along the way. The others, gratefully, had their backs turned while she donned her armor. 

"Welcome back, Kallak," she muttered, belting the sword around her waist once more. The sword of war, and the shield of peace. Oddly fitting for the Hero of Ferelden, who had waged a war to forge peace. But this cavern had a fork at the far end. One, Elyssa was sure, would lead them to the surface and out of the abandoned mine. But from the other, Elyssa could sense a powerful darkspawn. And it needed to die if the Wending Wood was to be opened for traders again. 

"It's like you're a mage," Anders was saying to Nathaniel. "If there were more Howe's, they'd lock all of you up in a tower to protect everyone else!" He was oddly chipper about this discovery.

"A thrilling analogy," Nathaniel said, sounding irritated. 

"Anders," Elyssa said sharply. "We put our past behind us when we undergo the Joining. Please leave it there." He didn't respond, but she knew from the look that he understood. 

In the next cavern, which dead-ended the left fork from the previous one, she found a darkspawn that seemed to be commanding a drake and a dragonling. The four quickly put an end to them, and collected the ring from the darkspawn as well as some scales from the drake and the freshly laid dragon's egg. The last one she took more out of curiosity than anything else. 

"I wonder if I can get Wade to make more armor from the drake scales…" she muttered as she cleaned and pocketed them. She led them through the tunnels and eventually ended up in what appeared to be the lowest level of the temple. Which was progress. In the first room to the left, she found an interesting letter.

"Utha, I know this has tested your patience," she read aloud. "You first gave your blood years ago to further our common dream. I know at times it seems we're going nowhere. Trust me, Utha, I echo your frustration. Vigil's Keep was a setback, yes, but minor…" She paused, looking down at the letter with narrowed eyes. "I intend to keep my promise to you." She clicked her tongue and rolled up the letter, sticking it in a different pocket of her pack. Whoever this Utha was, they played a pretty important role in whatever was going on. 

"You are not supposed to be here," a man said when they climbed the steps to the second main door. 

"Were you captured as well?" she asked him. 

"Once," he admitted. "I made a deal with the creatures, and they set me free." His speech pattern was vaguely familiar. "I bring them supplies, they give me gold." 

"I need to trade for supplies," she said. Their supply of healing potions was running low, after all the injuries they'd gotten trying to get their arms and armor back. With her trading done, she looked at him again. "Would you consent to trading at Vigil's Keep?" she asked. They did still need more merchants. 

"Vigil's Keep?" he echoed. "That is the Grey Warden's keep, near Amaranthine. Yes, I know it. If there is coin to be had, Armaas will be there. We will meet again… if you survive this place." 

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked. 

"No. All I care is that the darkspawn honor our agreement," Armaas told her. "Questioning them would be… inadvisable." That's when she realized it. He spoke the same way Sten always had. Not to mention how much taller he was than her, than even Anders and Nathaniel. Those were telltale signs of a hornless qunari. 

"Why would the qunari work with the darkspawn?" she asked him, curious. 

"The Qun is a lie," Armaas protested vehemently. "I am Tal Vashoth--outcast. My life is my own. I do not help the darkspawn, I help myself." It was a simple explanation, but effective. Tal Vashoth… that was not one of the words she'd heard Sten say before. She made a mental note of it. 

"We should probably focus on getting out of here, Commander," Anders reminded her.

"You're right," she agreed. "Armaas, I will see you at Vigil's Keep."

"I will say nothing of you to the darkspawn," he promised. A chest nearby, she found, held the rest of the things that had been taken from them before. The potions and poultices, as well as poisons and explosives and everything else. Through the door, and then another, and they were met with the darkspawn that had captured them, side by side with the elf girl who had set them free, and another corrupted girl. No words were shared between the three, but a dragon dropped from its perch above and attacked. Not just one, but two of them, and they kept taking flight and gliding around above, making it hard for her and Oghren to be very effective. But she had defeated the archdemon, these dragons were nothing compared to that. 

With his dragons dead, the darkspawn took both the elf, Seranni and the dwarf girl, before casting a spell and caving in the tunnel entrance behind them. And still, he had said nothing. All that was left to do was to exit whatever this temple or ruin was, and to try to find the elf that had been attacking the merchants. So it was back to the Wending Wood they went. 

They finally found her at the old camp, standing before one of the graves. 

"You… you will never take me alive," the elf said, and Elyssa heard the pain in her voice. It was a pain she remembered well, of finding herself suddenly all alone in a world that was so much bigger than it had seemed from the comfort of home. 

"I'm not going to kill you," she said after a moment. 

"I will not go with you to some… shemlen magistrate," the elf spat. "I won't bow to their rules." 

"I just wish to talk," Elyssa responded. This was not the first time she'd said so. 

The elf laughed darkly. "Talk," she demanded.

"The darkspawn were playing the humans against the elves," Elyssa explained simply. 

"What?" the elf said, disbelief heavy in her voice. "The darkspawn are mindless, it's not possible.

"The weapons here were planted by darkspawn," she said after a moment. 

"I wondered why anyone would discard their weapons," the elf admitted. Elyssa had too, which was what made her reasoning more sound. "But you say the darkspawn planted them? That would mean the darkspawn killed my people, and took my sister!"

"I found this trinket on a darkspawn," Elyssa said, pulling it from her pack and holding it out to the elf. "The design looks like what I saw in Zathrian's camp, months ago."

"That… is Seranni's. She would never willingly part with that; our mother gave it to her before she died," the elf explained. Elyssa pitied her when she heard how her voice cracked. "Why would the darkspawn do this?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Elyssa promised. It wasn't a total lie, but non-Wardens didn't need to know about the Broodmothers. Besides, Seranni hadn't seemed as out of it as Hespith, the dwarf from the disaster of an expedition surrounding the Anvil of the Void, had. 

"You have no reason to trust me, but let me come with you," the elf insisted.

"After you killed all those people? And attacked me?" Elyssa asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms. 

"I fell for the darkspawn deception, and I took lives, this is true," the elf admitted, though she didn't sound pleased with having to admit such. "I see now that this was a mistake. I swear to you that if I get Seranni back, I will leave this place. For good." Elyssa gave a small smile.

"Come with me, then," she said. 

"Great, another twitchy magic sort," Oghren muttered. "Just what we need." Elyssa shot him a glare, which silenced him. 

"My name is Velanna, if you care for such things," the elf said, ignoring Oghren. "Do you know where the darkspawn might dwell?"

"I already cleared out the ones in the mine," she admitted. "I'm not sure who everyone was, I'm sorry. Perhaps you'll find your sister if you stay with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want all companions to undergo the Joining, you need to make sure to save the Blackmarsh questline for last. Otherwise Varel will be preoccupied with other things and you won't be able to give the Joining to whoever you recruit last. I personally save the Blackmarsh for last because the companion character recruited in that is already a full Warden.


	68. Camaraderie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little short compared to some of my other chapters, but it's also mostly fluff.

Chapter 68: Camaraderie

When they returned to Vigil's Keep, five of them now, they found a riot at the gates.

"Thank goodness you've arrived," Seneschal Varel said when he saw her. "Things are getting out of hand."

"My son is starving!" one of the rioters yelled over the noise. "Open the granaries! Bloody feed your people!"

"Grave times, Commander," Varel said with a sigh. "The common folk are getting desperate. Maybe you can say a few words, calm them down."

"Varel, you don't coddle a revolt, you put it down," Captain Garavel interrupted. "Just give me the order." 

"Now, more than ever, we must stand together!" Elyssa called over the clamor. 

"We will not be--" one of the rioters began.

"Let the commander speak," a woman in the crowd interrupted. 

"But we must eat! We--" he tried again.

"Quiet!" the woman barked. Elyssa was thankful that the woman had spoken up. It wouldn't have done any good for her to say that herself, especially with public opinion of her already so low. 

"I will provide for my people," Elyssa swore, speaking loud enough for them all to hear. "Trust me." 

"Don't believe the Commander's empty words!" the man yelled. "If we get to the granaries, we can feed our families!" Some of the men pulled out daggers or knives, and attacked the guards. Elyssa didn't want to face them, but they had given her no choice. She drew her sword, though her heart was heavy as she did so, and she did what she could to avoid giving fatal blows. 

"Peasant uprisings--they never end well," Garavel muttered as they all sheathed their swords. Elyssa sighed softly and shook her head. 

"There had to be another way…" Varel said with a sigh that echoed Elyssa's.

"You know as well as I that if you give in to the mob, you are ruled by the mob," Garavel said. His words were true, but that didn't make Elyssa feel any better about having to strike down the people she ruled over. 

"You're right, Garavel," Varel said with another sigh. "I'll be in the Keep." She went around to the merchants and gave Dworkin the lyrium sand, Herren the silverite ore, and Wade the heartwood she'd found a while ago. She also stopped by Voldrik, and gave him the location of the granite deposit in the Wending Wood. He, of course, requested more guards to obtain it. 

"I owe you an apology," Nathaniel said hesitantly when they entered the throne room. 

"Any specific reason in mind?" she asked, genuinely confused. So much had happened recently that she didn't remember exactly what he had done. 

"When I returned from the Free Marches, I was certain my family had been destroyed for being on the wrong side of the war," he admitted. "But my father did it to himself. No conspiracies, just one stupid, selfish man. I should have known better." 

"How could you have known?" she questioned. "He had you sequestered away in the Free Marches. We didn’t even know he had a second son when Alistair gave Amaranthine to the Wardens."

"I should have dug deeper, before I acted," he continued. "I was an idiot, and like a child I blamed you and the Wardens. And here you've even proven to be a friend, of sorts. Or am I reading that wrong, too?"

She shook her head. "No, I'd like to be friends," she said with a slight smile. "You've proven yourself a capable fighter, and you've given me no reason to doubt you."

"Good," he said with a nod. "You know, when you conscripted me, I would not have thought I'd end up liking it," he admitted. 

"We don't all get to choose to become what we are," she agreed, a soft reference to her own recruitment. 

"Anyway, let's be on our way. I don't want to take up more of your time," he told her. She nodded and went to speak with Sigrun. 

"Sigrun, I found this while we were in the Wending Wood," she said, holding out the spyglass.

"Oh! Oh, it's exactly as Varlan described!" she said happily, taking it. "But shinier!" She looked up at Elyssa. "May I… keep it? I know I shouldn't. We're not supposed to have belongings in the Legion." 

"I won't tell anyone, I promise," Elyssa said with a grin. 

"As you say Commander. Thank you!" 

"Come, I heard from the kitchens it's almost time to eat," Elyssa said to the dwarf. "You can tell me what I missed while we were in the Wending Wood." 

"Yum! I'm glad it's them cooking, and not me." The two shared a laugh and led the way to the dining room, where they gathered around the table to share stories as they ate. 

"Oh, Varel, can you look into a Mayor Grisby for me?" she asked suddenly. "I found a letter from him on the body of one of the bandits in the Wending Wood." 

"Certainly Commander," he said with a nod. "A letter arrived for you yesterday," he added. 

"Did you see who it was from?" she asked. 

"The wax seal bore the Therin crest," he said simply. 

"Ah, Alistair. Thank you, I'll read it tonight." 

"Wait, as in the human king? You call him by his first name?" Sigrun asked, surprised. 

"Of course, he's my husband," she responded. "I thought I mentioned that?" 

"Did everyone know?" Sigrun asked, looking around the table. 

"I knew them before they were married," Oghren boasted. Elyssa rolled her eyes.

"It was a bit of a surprise," Anders admitted. "He just popped over right after we finished cleaning the darkspawn out of the keep with all these soldiers in tow. All to say hello to his little wife." He looked up from his plate to find the woman in question glaring daggers at him. "And to welcome the Wardens, of course," he added quickly. 

"Other than the revolt, did anything happen while we were away?" Elyssa asked. Sigrun, who had been the only one left behind, began regaling her with stories of little things she found. And their meal passed quickly. Soon, the food was gone, and everyone began to stumble off to their rooms for the night. 

"Oh, Varel, is there a room available for Velanna?" Elyssa asked.

"I took the liberty of arranging one when I saw you returning," he told her. 

"I don't need your kindness," Velanna objected, though the yawn that punctuated her sentence took the harshness from her words. 

"Then don't think of it as kindness," Elyssa said with a shrug. "If you're going to stay here, and become a Grey Warden, this is where you'll stay. For now, at least." 

"I need to thank you," Sigrun said, stopping her in the hall outside the dining room. "For letting me join the Grey Wardens. For showing me the surface. But I hope you don't think I've abandoned the Legion." 

"I know," she said simply. She couldn’t expect everyone to simply throw away their past, after all. She would never be able to completely forget the night that changed her life. 

"In Dust Town, my word meant nothing to anyone. Then I joined the Legion, and took a vow to protect Orzammar," the dwarf continued. "That's worth something. For once, **I'm** worth something. And I must honor that… even if it means I'll die."

"That's noble of you," Elyssa said after a moment, unsure of what else to say. 

"In the Legion, death looms over us constantly. Like… like a dirty uncle." Elyssa found the comparison amusing. "Here, death seems distant. When the surface is safe, I'm going back to the Deep Roads. For a Warden's last walk. For the Calling." She wasn't surprised to hear it, but it was still hard. 

"But don't you want to live?" she asked softly, allowing a hint of the sadness she felt to leak into her voice. 

"I finally understand what Varlan meant," Sigrun began again. "I never accepted my sentence. Raging against it only caused me pain." Perhaps that was what Elyssa would have felt too, if she hadn't fought so hard against the Blight. "Now that I've been granted a reprieve, now that I have a choice, I know what I must do." 

Elyssa hesitated. She didn't know just how much of herself she was willing to show. But, maybe, just this once, it was okay for her to open up and be a bit more vulnerable than usual. "You've lost friends," she whispered sadly. "I don't want to lose mine." She'd already lost enough of those. 

"I… I'm touched, but I've made up my mind," Sigrun said, her voice soft but determined. "But the darkspawn still threaten the surface, and that is my first concern."

The next morning, Velanna also underwent the Joining. And, as the others had done, survived. 

"I envy you, sometimes," Velanna admitted later that day, once she had woken up. 

"Why?" Elyssa asked. She had to admit that, in a way, she felt a similarity to the elf. They had both lost everything, only to end up in the Wardens. 

"Even the youngest human child knows of at least a dozen heroes of legend," the elf said. "These tales are taken for granted, they are so abundant! Of, it makes me angry sometimes. We Dalish have lost most of our history and our legends. What we do remember, we hold dear." 

"They're just stories, they don't mean anything," Elyssa said dismissively. With the stories she'd been hearing about herself, they were likely highly exaggerated. 

"You are wrong," Velanna objected quickly. "You say this because you are whole, and cannot imagine any other way of being." Elyssa bit back her retort. Why should she tell her life story anyway? "Stories connect us to our past. They shape a people in profound ways. Without them, we are lost. I just wish I could do something to restore this lost part of our soul."

"Make your own stories," Elyssa suggested. It was up to the individual whether they lived well enough to make their own mark on the world, after all. 

"Now you're just being ridiculous," Velanna said with a scoff before walking away. 

That afternoon, Elyssa found Velanna again.

"What? This book is empty. Why have you given me this useless object?" the elf objected.

"It's for writing in," she explained. 

"I can see that," Velanna responded scornfully. "I'm sure I'll find some use for this. The leather binding is quite… adequate. And I… I suppose I could write in it. Stories, like we talked about." She looked down at the journal in her hands. "The Dalish will never recover what we lost. It may be time to start creating tales anew. Perhaps, one day, they will be what connects my children and their children to their past--to me. I… I see now that this is a gift to be treasured. And I… I thank you." Elyssa couldn't help the smile that crept to her face as the elf walked away, lost in thought. Maybe they could be friends, someday. 

"Velanna, Anders, can I talk to you?" Elyssa said after breakfast the next morning. 

"Sure," Anders said, following her into the hall with Velanna silent behind him. 

"Anders, I'd like you to teach Velanna some healing spells," Elyssa told him. "That is, if you're willing," she added, turning to the elf.

"For what purpose?" Velanna demanded, crossing her arms.

"The two of you are the only mages in the Ferelden Grey Wardens," Elyssa explained. "One of you will be traveling with me when I leave the Vigil, but the other will remain here. Because of that, I need to make sure both of you are capable with healing magic." 

"Your words make sense," Velanna admitted after a moment. "Very well."

"Good. Anders, give her a few to start with, we're leaving for the Blackmarsh tomorrow," she announced. "I'll need you to stay here this time."

"As you say, Commander," Anders said. With a small smile, Elyssa turned her back and headed back to her office upstairs. She had already told Sigrun and Oghren to get ready to leave, and she trusted Nathaniel not to let Anders get into too much trouble while she was away. With Voldrik working on the walls, Garavel leading the soldiers, and Varel taking care of more domestic matters, she knew Vigil's Keep was in good hands.


	69. The Blackmarsh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've already recognized one person in this part of the story, right? Yeah, Anders. But when I met Anders, there were two minds inside one body. Here's where our illustrious Commander met the second one.

"This is an unnatural place," Velanna muttered as they neared the Blackmarsh. "The Veil is thin, and spirits abound. We must be wary." Elyssa sighed. Wonderful. Would she ever have an adventure that didn't involve spirits and thin spots in the Veil? 

"How are you doing on those healing spells?" Elyssa asked. "I know I only gave you a day at the Vigil, and for that I apologize. But one of the Orlesian Wardens might be here, and I've delayed it long enough."

"I have adequate knowledge of healing magic, thanks to the shemlen mage," Velanna said. Elyssa took that to mean that she'd done well enough with the short amount of time. 

"Good. Then, when we get attacked, Oghren and I will charge the enemy while Sigrun does her shadow thing," she explained. "You try to stay out of melee range. Robes don't offer much protection against blades." 

"Understood." 

Elyssa stopped at a sign at the edge of the Blackmarsh. "Beware, the Blackmarsh is haunted?" she read aloud. "Well, that's wonderful news… Just like Soldier's Peak, and the Circle Tower before that."

"Soldier's Peak?" Sigrun asked.

"An old Warden fortress to the west," Elyssa explained simply. "It was abandoned after the Wardens were banished from Ferelden nearly two hundred years ago, after a war between the tyrant King Arland and his cousin Sophia Dryden. She was the Commander at the time, apparently." 

"Apparently?"

"Her body had been possessed when we stormed the place," she said. "Remind me to tell you the full story when we get back to the Vigil." They walked a little farther into the marsh before Velanna spoke again.

"My people say this land used to be fertile, lush… until some unnatural perversion occurred," the elf muttered, glaring darkly at some of the weeds growing at the water's edge. A howl echoed through the marsh, putting all four of them on edge.

"Wolves," Elyssa muttered. "Stay alert." A little further in, after stumbling across a feeding ground, they found a tear in the Veil that prevented them from going further. So they made to find a way around. They entered what appeared to be the ruins of a village, only to be surprised by a darkspawn corpse.

"It's been dead for days," Sigrun commented.

"Clearly there are darkspawn in this marsh, as well as one who has been hunting them," Velanna said.

"Kristoff might have been here," Elyssa said thoughtfully. "If you see--" She fell silent and drew Kallak, and she heard the others ready their weapons as well. What they saw, what they felt, were the tainted werewolves that attacked them next.

"Werewolves? Really?" Elyssa muttered. "Spirits, werewolves… This is just like the Brecilian Forest all over again…" The body of a mabari made her miss her own hound, who she'd left in Denerim's kennels to father a few litters. The number of mabari in Ferelden had dropped drastically after the Blight, and a strong member of the breed like Kenai was vital in maintaining it. And inside the ruins of one house, they found records from the village that had once been here.

"What's it say?" Sigrun asked. 

"A story about how the baroness of the village Blackmarsh sent away a high dragon who had plagued this place," Elyssa summarized. "My guess is that magic was involved. How else could one person stand alone against a dragon?" They fought more blighted werewolves, but other than the one darkspawn corpse, saw no true darkspawn. They managed to find an old camp that might have been Kristoff's, but it had been abandoned for days. 

"Things just aren't adding up," Elyssa muttered, running her gloved hand through her hair. "Kristoff's camp, abandoned for days, and blighted werewolves but no darkspawn. Veil tears usually happen in only a few circumstances, too. Either a vast amount of magic was worked here at one point, or some event that caused a large number of deaths in a short amount of time."

"You are surprisingly knowledgeable in matters of the Veil," Velanna said, surprised. 

"I traveled with a circle mage and an apostate from the Korkari Wilds during the Blight," Elyssa said with a shrug. "They taught me a lot, even though I have no magical potential."

"It is admirable, that you have learned so much despite not having magical ability yourself."

"Thanks." They ended up going back into the village, since other directions seemed to be cut off by tears in the Veil. She finally read the note stuck next to the gate in the center of the village.

"This village lies abandoned… May the Maker rest their poor souls," she read aloud. She knew something had happened here. The problem was finding out what. "Hopefully Kristoff didn't get wrapped up in this mess…"

"If he's anything like you, he'll be up to his ass in mess," Oghren said helpfully. Elyssa simply sighed. She did seem to find herself pretty deep in trouble on a regular basis, though the six months between defeating the archdemon and being sent out here had been nice. 

There didn't seem to be anything left to find in the village, so they ventured back toward Kristoff's camp. Only to discover a path just to the right of it that they had missed before. The path led to a fork, and the left one dead-ended at yet another Veil tear. The right, however, led them to another patch of the darkspawn childer grubs, the disgusting bug-like creatures with human-like faces that they had last seen in Kal'Hirol. 

"I suppose this explains why there weren't any other darkspawn around," Elyssa said with a barely-suppressed shudder. "I thought we killed these things when we killed the broodmothers in Kal'Hirol."

"Some of them made it to the surface… but how?" Sigrun asked. "Ugh. Disgusting."

"They didn't hatch until we got near, though," Elyssa observed. "They're likely new to the area. Hopefully none of them got Kristoff." In the next clearing, however, they found their answer. Kristoff, at least a few days dead. She knelt down to examine his body, only to hear Oghren and Sigrun draw their blades. They were surrounded. She stood and reached for her sword, only to see another darkspawn come striding toward them.

"Yes, that is your Grey Warden," the darkspawn said. Elyssa heard Velanna gasp. This was the elf's first time coming across the ones that talked, after all. The darkspawn closed the gap between itself and Elyssa with a few more steps. "The Mother told me that if he was lured to this place and slain, that in time you would come." 

"It was a trap," Velanna said, stating the obvious. "And we are all fools for falling into it." Elyssa bit back her retort. She wasn't about to just abandon a fellow Warden when there was a chance for her to help. 

"And the Mother, she was right," the darkspawn continued. "The Mother is always right."

"You wanted me to come?" Elyssa asked. "To ambush me, I suppose?"

"An… ambush? An attack, yes?" it asked. "This here, it is no attack." This one spoke far more fluently than the one that attacked the Vigil had. "I… here before you is the First, and I am bringing to you a message. The Mother, she is not permitting you to further **his** plan, whether this you know or not. So she is sending you a gift." The darkspawn, the First, raised his right hand, palm up, and began to work some sort of spell. It felt like the magic was trying to pull Elyssa out of her body, and it made everything shriek with pain. Then the world went white. 

When they came to, Elyssa slowly got to her feet and realized that the First was still in front of her. 

"No, we have come to the Fade as well? It cannot be this!" it protested. 

"What have you done?" she demanded. "I want answers!" This couldn't be the Fade. No, it just couldn't be. She had Alistair waiting in Denerim for her to clean up this darkspawn mess and get back to him. Fergus was waiting in Highever. Nathaniel and Anders were waiting at Vigil's Keep for them to return. She realized that, somehow, all three of the others were standing behind her. Velanna was a mage, so her being here made sense. But Oghren and Sigrun were dwarves, who had no connection to the Fade. How were they here?

"As do I!" the First told her. "This was not as she said! I am betrayed!" 

"I could never trust my mother either," Oghren muttered.

"Now I am being trapped in the Fade with you! Ah, I am the fool!" the darkspawn continued, ignoring Oghren entirely. 

"Looks like someone was considered expendable," Elyssa snarked, taking out her conflicting emotions on the First. 

"I am the First! I am not being expendable!" it insisted. "Both the Grey Warden and the Mother shall be learning this! I shall be leaving you to the Children. I will be finding my own path back into the world! Back to the Mother!" The grubs and a pair of genlocks attacked, and the First vanished during the fight. 

"Who is this 'First'?" Velanna asked. "And who is this 'Mother' he spoke of?"

"Another talking darkspawn," Sigrun muttered. "And now there is mention of a 'Mother'. A leader, perhaps?"

"More talking darkspawn," Oghren grunted. "And now some 'Mother' to go along with it? Cute." He fell silent for a moment, then glanced around. "Wait. What did that snarly bastard say? The Fade? We're in the Fade? That's where humans dream, isn't it?"

"Yes," Elyssa responded. 

"Dwarves shouldn't be here!" he protested. "We don't dream. We sleep like the Stone!" She'd had that thought too.

"Oghren, I need you to be calm and keep your wits about you," she said. 

"Commander, I couldn’t keep my wits about me if they were strapped to my back," he confessed. "And what happens to my body while I'm here? Someone could outrage my modesty! What little's left of it. Sod."

"I've been in the Fade before and came out just fine," she reminded him. "As long as we get out sooner than later, our bodies should be fine too." 

"It's the should be part that I'm worried about," the dwarf growled. "Let's just get moving." They went up a path that led to a ledge, where some strange apparatus was keeping the tear open. Elyssa managed to figure out how to switch it off, and the tear sealed itself. 

"Hopefully the rest of them are that simple," she sighed. A runestone puzzle summoned several rage demons, which were easily dispatched by Velanna's ice spells. 

"That's the village!" Sigrun said when they found the back gate by the docks. "So we're in the dream of a forgotten place? That's profound." 

"See? Here's an experience you never would've had in the Legion," Elyssa joked as several Shades came toward them. 

"And I'm still not sure if that's good or bad," Sigrun responded before fading into the shadows as usual. The back gate was locked, so they went around the wall to see if there was another way in. There, they met a woman who seemed to be praying before a headstone. When the woman noticed, she stood and faced them. 

"You… you're not a spirit like everyone else," the woman observed, mystifying Elyssa. "How did you get here?"

"Didn't have much of a choice, actually," Elyssa admitted. 

"You were forced to come here?" the woman asked, surprised. "That's very strange." She paused and looked over her shoulder at the grave marker. "This is where my grandfather's ashes are buried. I come to visit him often. He was the last person to stay in Blackmarsh. Once he passed, there was nobody left in the village who remembered."

"You mean the ruins in the marsh?"

"It wasn't always a ruin. It was a whole village once," the woman insisted. "Then that evil woman came and changed everything. She--" A flash of fear crossed the woman's face. "Oh no! They've come back again! Quick, hide in the crypt!" She darted through a door to Elyssa's left, and before the rest could follow, they were set upon by a number of undead. The skeletons were easily defeated, and then they followed the woman through the door and into the caverns below. Only to be assaulted by more undead. It took a while to clear the place out, just because of the sheer number of skeletons that attacked them. 

"And so you came," the woman hissed when they finally caught up with her in the final room. "Fell into my little trap." Elyssa sighed. She was getting real tired of falling into people's traps today. 

"Not again," Velanna said with an exasperated sigh. "You have a knack for stumbling into traps, don't you?" 

"Believe it or not, Alistair was worse," she admitted softly. Oghren snorted a laugh. 

"Such wonderful creatures, you mortals," the demon-woman said. "So full of yearnings. So full of hunter." Elyssa crossed her arms.

"Do you really think you can defeat me?" she asked, her gaze hardening to an icy glare. 

"Hm… You do outnumber me now, it's true," the demon said. "Clearly you mortals are not frail. Very well. Let the baroness have you. I shall feed on whatever remains." She walked away with a rather chilling laugh. Elyssa sighed and ran her fingers through her hair once again. 

"Have I ever told you how much I hate the Fade?" she muttered. "I'm going to venture a guess that we'll have to defeat this Baroness before we can get out of here."

"Likely," Velanna agreed. They made their way back through the crypt until they found another path to the surface, and emerged into a graveyard only to be stopped by a guard. 

"Halt! Who enters the Blackmarsh?" he demanded.

"We are Grey Wardens, trapped here," she told him. 

"Trapped?" he asked. "Then you are just as we are, locked in this endless nightmare." He sounded so defeated, Elyssa pitied him. We've been here so long, at her mercy. I almost forget what it was like, before. There is a spirit that's come to free us. Perhaps you could help him? If only that were possible…" he added with a sigh before waving them on. Elyssa led her companions through the village, spotting here and there a person who seemed to be talking to themselves. They came out to the gate of the estate, which Elyssa recognized, and saw a crowd gathered before it, led by a spirit in the shape of a human warrior. 

"The mansion will not protect you, fiend!" the spirit called. "Come out and face your crime!"

"We aren't afraid of you any longer!" A woman in armor yelled. A moment of silence followed before she spoke again. "The witch hides! Break down the door!"

"Be cautious, my friends," the spirit said quickly. "The baroness has power within her lair, and she well knows it. We rush in at our peril." The spirit saw Elyssa and her companions then, and turned its attention on them. "And who comes now?" it asked. "More minions of the baroness? Or yet more poor souls she has tormented?"

"We are Grey Wardens, brought here against our will," she said. 

"I cannot say what a 'Grey Warden' is, but clearly you are a stranger," the spirit reasoned. The fact that it didn't know what Grey Wardens were was odd enough. "Perhaps that is a sign. I am Justice. I have watched this place and seethed at the wrongs visited on these poor folk, and now I seek to aid them."

"Once we lived in the real world, and the baroness ruled over us," the armored woman said sadly. "She took our children and used their blood to work dark and evil magic." The man next to her put a comforting hand on her shoulder as she wiped her cheeks with one hand.

"And when we burned down her mansion, she cast one final spell that brought our spirits here," he continued. "We have been trapped ever since, still under her rule." 

"We have to help these people!" Sigrun insisted. "It must be terrible to be trapped in this grey, lifeless world." 

"We have no quarrel with this baroness," Velana chimed in. "I suggest we move on and leave these people to their business."

"In my experience, the only way to get out of the Fade once you've been trapped is to defeat the demon that rules the area," Elyssa explained to the elf. "There's a chance that we may be stuck here forever if we don't help them."

"Tell me, stranger, will you help us in this righteous task?" Justice asked. "Being a Grey Warden appears to make you an able sort, and thus your aid would be most welcome."

"I need to find a way out of the Fade," Elyssa admitted finally. 

"Out of…?" Justice questioned, confused. "Ah, I see. You come from the world of mortals, as these fine people once did. Was it the baroness who brought you here as well?"

"I encountered a trap set by another," she said, somewhat evasively. No need to frighten these people more than they already were with talk of intelligent darkspawn. 

"Then the injustice of your own situation underscores why these people must be avenged," Justice said, sounding somewhere between frustrated and angry. "These people are dead, yet their spirits remain trapped by the vanity of this sorceress."

"Until this spirit came, we were helpless, locked into this eternal nightmare," the woman said. "But now we can act!"

"I do not know how to cross the Veil back into your world," Justice admitted. "Should you aid us now, however, I promise that I will help your search." 

"That's enough for me. We'll help," Elyssa agreed. 

"Then we have the numbers to challenge the baroness directly," Justice declared. 

"A direct challenge?" Oghren echoed. "I like the sound of that. Less talking, more killing."

"We waste our time with these… these cattle?" Velanna objected.

"This spirit knows the secrets of this place. He can help us," Elyssa said, attempting to persuade the elf. 

"Very well," she conceded reluctantly. "If you are certain…"

"My intention is to storm the gate. Are you ready?" Justice asked. 

"I am ready," Elyssa confirmed. 

"Good people, we take the battle directly to the witch!" Justice called to the villagers. "For too long have her crimes gone unpunished! Now is the time to reclaim your freedom!" A cheer went up from the crowd, and Justice kicked open the gate, startling the guards on the other side. 

_If the villagers have been trapped here, doesn't that mean the guards are too?_ Elyssa wondered. She followed Justice into the courtyard, and as the guards scattered a woman emerged from the mansion flanked by a pair of ash wraiths. 

"My, my. All that shouting outside and now you've finally decided to barge in?" the woman scoffed. "Without even a proper invitation?"

"Foul sorcoress!" Justice cursed. "You will release these poor folk and submit yourself to Justice!" 

"Justice? Is that what you're calling it?" she asked disdainfully. "What of their punishment, burning my home to the ground and me within it?" The baroness had a strange accent that didn't quite fit with this part of Thedas. Her voice sounded like the graceful Orlesian accent Leliana had, but without the lilting grace. Or perhaps like Zevran's Antivan accent, but softer where his voice had been harsh. Or maybe it was something else entirely, something Elyssa had not yet heard.

"Because you were stealing our children!" the man from before accused. "Using their blood to feed your vanity!" 

"As was my due!" the baroness decreed. "You lived on my land, I your rightful ruler! Your blood was mine, just as your lives are now!"

"Their lives are not yours any longer!" Elyssa challenged. 

"What's this? The pathetic fools have managed to recruit more sympathizers?" She sounded like she didn't believe it was possible. 

"We are no longer alone, baroness," Justice said. "Your reign ends here!"

"As it happens, I am no longer alone either," she said confidently. The darkspawn responsible for sending Elyssa and her companions into the Fade stepped out from behind her, the same emotionless look on its face. 

"My path back across the Veil lies in victory over you and your new allies," the First said as it descended the steps to the courtyard. "Then the Mother will pay for her treachery!" It came to a stop and stood before her. 

"I thought you'd turn up sooner or later," Elyssa muttered, one hand resting on Kallak's pommel. 

"We must be ending this! Now!" the First said to the baroness. "The Grey Warden, it is more dangerous than you know!"

"Oh, as you wish creature," the baroness said, sounding bored. "Slay them and you shall have the reward you requested. 

"Enough! The battle is joined!" Justice called, holding a small axe in one hand. Elyssa blinked and missed it, but the next moment Justice was up on the stone with the baroness, engaging her in combat while the First summoned a few genlocks to assist him and the ash wraiths. 

"No, you fool!" the baroness called down to them. "Why haven't you defeated them?"

"They are too much!" the First insisted. "It must be sending me back through the Veil! Now, before it is too late!" 

"Oh, I will sunder the Veil alright," the baroness promised. "I'll send them all back. But you--your life is going to provide the power!" Blood magic powered by darkspawn? That was new. Elyssa made a mental note to ask Anders about it later. If she remembered. The First tried to run, but the baroness's spell stopped it cold. It twitched around for a few moments before collapsing, and then Elyssa felt the familiar pain and the world once again went white. 

When they woke up again, they were back in their bodies. Getting rained on. Again. Elyssa sat up and watched as the others slowly got to their feet. Oghren was understandably shaken, but it was when Kristoff's body began to move that Elyssa once again gripped Kallak. Kristoff, or his body, stood, back to Elyssa and the others, and looked around.

"What… where am I?" he asked. "What is happening?" Elyssa raised an eyebrow. "No! This is the world of mortals, beyond the Veil! And this… this is a mortal body of flesh! I am trapped within!" That's when it clicked. Justice had been sent with them.

"The spirit of justice? How did you get back here?" she asked. He turned to face her then, finally noticing that he wasn't alone.

"The witch sundered the Veil in her haste," he said angrily. "All of us were drawn through. She has returned to this realm as well. Can you not feel it? The baroness is nearby."

"We defeated her once already," Elyssa said with a shrug.

"You misunderstand." He turned his back to her and lowered his gaze. "The baroness, she is not a mortal as you are or as were the villagers she kept trapped. There was such a mortal once. But now? That is a demon of pride. She assumed that role long ago, to feed from the mortals she trapped." Once again, he faced her. "But here in your world, here she will be quite something else."

"Great. I suppose she'll be even stronger now," Elyssa muttered, frustrated. One adventure without demons. Just one. Was that too much to ask? 

"Perhaps. She has power enough to create havoc in your world, that much I know," he told her. She sighed softly. 

"Elyssa to the rescue," she muttered. 

"The Veil is sundered," Justice continued, "and the tears must be closed lest they continue to spill demons out into this world. I can alter your weapons for a time, allowing them to drive back the Fade's magic… but if we are to deal with the baroness, we must move swiftly."

"Oghren, can you get back to the Vigil and let them know what's going on?" Elyssa asked, turning to the dwarf. She knew he wasn't a fan of spirits, or anything really related to them. 

"Yup," he agreed. 

"Good. Hopefully we won't be more than a week behind you," she told him. He nodded and left, making sure to avoid the spots where demons were spilling from the Fade. The first of which was actually not far from them, in the spot where the darkspawn grubs had hatched. It spouted a Revenant and a Shade before they managed to close it. The second one they found near the circle of runestones, and it spat out two Revenants and one Shade. The third one was up on a cliff, overlooking the water, and the fourth was near the gate to the village, which had been closed while they were in the Fade. It was easy enough to open again, though, and once more they entered the village ruins. 

"So this is the world of mortals?" the baroness was saying. "How very dull it seems, so immutable and unchanging. Yet… I am here! I have crossed the Veil! The spirits will watch in envy as the mortals of this realm bow down before me!"

"That will not happen, demon!" Justice-Kristoff declared, crossing his arms. 

"Ah. It seems I was not the only one to be drawn here. How very tiresome," the baroness complained. 

"Defeating you one more time won't be a problem," Elyssa decided. 

"Is that so? We shall see, won't we?" the baroness challenged. She stumbled back a few steps, then fell to her knees with one hand around her throat. Her eyes, even the whites, glowed a brilliant green for a moment before a flash of light blinded them all. When their vision cleared, standing where the baroness had been was the monstrous form of a pride demon. Tall as a chantry with four twisting horns coming out of the back of its head and multiple pairs of glowing green eyes, the black-skinned demon laughed menacingly at Elyssa and her companions before attacking. And it kept ripping holes in the Veil, which spawned shades and other lesser demons and made the battle that much more frustrating and confusing. It wasn't an easy fight, either. Elyssa hadn't adjusted to her new companions yet, so used to her old friends as she was, that she kept getting in Velanna's way or tripping into Sigrun. But they won, despite the difficulty.

"And so it is done," Justice-Kristoff said once the demon was dead. "For what it is worth, thank you. I have fulfilled my vow. May the victims of that woman's madness rest in peace, wherever they have gone to now."

"What will you do now?" Elyssa asked. Things in this world could be quite difficult for a spirit possessing a corpse, even a well-intentioned spirit drawn through the Veil accidentally. 

"It seems I cannot return to the Fade," he responded, sounding troubled. "I am trapped here, in the body of this… Grey Warden?" He paused and ran one hand over his face. "There are memories in this poor man's mind. They are difficult to see, but… he was a Grey Warden? He was… slain by the darkspawn, the one called the First?" That much Elyssa had figured out for herself. If not by the First, Kristoff had been killed on his order. 

"The darkspawn are who the Grey Wardens fight," Elyssa explained after a moment. Perhaps the spirit hadn't watched the waking world very much. 

"And that was your pursuit when you were tricked into the Fade," Justice said slowly. "Yes, I understand now." He paused and glanced away for a moment before looking back at Elyssa. "It seems I am at a loss. I know nothing of this world, and have only a few memories of this Grey Warden to draw from. I do not wish to die." So spirits could die too. She'd have to make a note of that and tell Wynne in her next letter. "What shall I do, mortal? You seem to be a creature of goo character, and you are of this world. Can you advise me?" 

"You know nothing of this world? Nothing at all?" She found that hard to believe. Surely he'd spoken to the people the baroness trapped. 

"The demons seek out the dreamers, those mortals that come to the Fade, and they draw sustenance from their memories," he told her, sounding more than a little disgusted by the idea. "My kind has no such compulsion. We feel sorry for you mortals, trapped as you are in this dismal place. But now… I am trapped as well, alas. I… have no purpose here, no goal." 

"Join me, then," Elyssa told him. "The body you inhabit belonged to a Grey Warden, and I could always use another strong fighter."

"You mean, continue this mortal's mission? As a Grey Warden?" He sounded confused, but as he spoke more, the confusion seemed to clarify and settle. "It was a darkspawn who murdered this mortal most ignobly, and the ones that command it yet live. To avenge his death… yes, that would be a purpose. Very well. I will join you, Grey Warden, if you allow it." 

"I will," Elyssa confirmed. "But, what should I call you? The Warden before you was called Kristoff."

"That is not my name," Justice told her. "I have no name, only a virtue to which I aspire. If I am to need a name, then use that. I am Justice, and for now I am pleased to travel at your side, Grey Warden." There was one more thing to do before leaving the marsh, though. The dragon bones she'd collected needed to be returned to the skull she'd seen before, around the side of the village's front gate. Replacing the bones for some reason zapped the last of the Veil tears closed, allowing them to pass into the final part of the marsh. Several flights of steps later, and a dragon that seemed to be bone and spirit descended from the sky. 

"By the ancestors! What is that?" 

"A high dragon," Elyssa said with the barest hint of a grin. "This is going to be fun!" She'd only fought two dragons before. Flemeth and the archdemon. But the fact that this one used electricity to attack made the battle that much more challenging. With the dragon defeated, and their wounds tended, the four of them made their way back toward Vigil's Keep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, once you've done all the companion recruitment related quests, there's another cutscene that triggers where another darkspawn is talking to the one called The Mother. I didn't include this on purpose.


	70. The Assault on Amaranthine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the Endgame! Once you speak to Varel about going to war, there's no turning back. If you have any quests you want to finish, do them before you say you're going to war.

When they finally returned to Vigil's Keep, there was a woman waiting for them near the well. 

"Kristoff! Oh, thank the Maker!" the woman cried when she saw them. Elyssa guessed that this woman must have been one of two things. Either Kristoff's wife or his sister. Neither of whom Justice likely remembered. 

"I fear you are mistaken, mortal," Justice responded.

"Kristoff? Why are you…? What has happened?" the woman asked, confused. 

"You were Kristoff's wife?" Elyssa asked.

"I **am** his wife!" she snapped.

"Your husband is gone, and I inhabit this body now," Justice explained. "His death will be avenged. I assure you." This was not going to go well. Most people didn't just accept spirits into their company. The only reason Elyssa had was so she could keep an eye on Justice. And maybe give Kristoff's body to his wife eventually. The only thing about him that she trusted, at the moment, was his prowess in battle. 

"Avenged? You've desecrated his body! How dare you!" the woman said, her voice choked. This was not going well at all.

"It was not intentional," Justice said quickly. "There were--" He reached out to the woman.

"Get away from me!" the woman cried, knocking his hand away and running off.

"This body has memories of this woman," Justice said after a moment. "Aura is her name. I did not know she would come."

"I didn't know about her either, Justice," Elyssa admitted. How had Kristoff's wife been left out of her reports.

"I must rectify this somehow," Justice decided. "Intentionally or not, I have done this woman a great disservice."

"You'll just make her angrier going after her now," Elyssa told him. "Let her grieve."

"I cannot," he insisted. "My memories suggest her home is in Amaranthine. It will prey on me if we do not seek her out. There must be something that can be done to assuage her pain! Something!" 

"Justice, I really don't think that's a good idea," she insisted again. "Mortals aren't like spirits that embody a virtue. We are, in effect, ruled by our emotions."

"Ah, you would of course know best," he said, though she thought she detected a hint of sarcasm. "The darkspawn call our attention, but should we get the chance to seek her out, I would be grateful." When they entered the Vigil, however, a number of nobles were waiting in the throne room. 

"Varel, what's going on?" Elyssa muttered as she approached him. 

"The darkspawn have fielded armies, and the nobles want to know what you will do to protect them," he told her. "Shall I assemble them, or do you need more time to strategize?"

"There are some things I must take care of first," she told him. "Do what you can until we are ready." 

"Understood, Commander," he said with a nod. She collected Anders, Oghren, and Nathaniel and left again. They went up to Ansalem's Reef, following a letter from Mistress Woolsey about a wrecked cargo ship and collected the salvaged goods from the scavengers so they could be put into the market back in Amaranthine. After returning to the Vigil, she left Nathaniel and took Justice, to go look for Aura again, who they found not in a home but in the Chantry.

"Aura, please, I do not wish to frighten you," Justice told her gently when they located her in one of the back rooms.

"You. You are the… in my husband's body," she remembered. 

"I am a spirit of Justice, I meant your husband no harm," he insisted. "I would ease your distress, had I the power."

"I knew, when he left, that this could happen," she admitted softly. "He told me. His father died a Grey Warden, too."

"Tell me, is there anything I can do for you?" Justice asked. "Tell me and I will do it." 

_You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Justice,_ Elyssa thought. _This isn't the Fade, you can't simply will things to change._

"Avenge him, spirit," Aura all but ordered. "I will wait for his ashes a little longer, if it means that whoever did this to him will pay." She looked at him sadly, then reached up and ran one hand across his jaw, as if lingering in a memory.

"The darkspawn, yes. I understand," Justice promised. He watched Aura walk silently away before turning to face Elyssa. "And she is gone. Did I… do the right thing?"

"I don't think there is a right thing, here," Elyssa admitted. 

"That is wise," he confessed. "She loved this man a great deal, and he loved her. I… envy what they had." Elyssa found herself unable to give him the reassuring words he probably wanted to hear. "I must think on this more, but another time. Thank you for bringing me here." Elyssa was being forced to face what might one day be her own fate. What could have been her fate during the Blight… What might happen to herself or Alistair should one of them be killed young. A lifetime was something others took for granted, something that she no longer could. She was a Warden, and though she'd barely been a Warden for a year, the truth was still there. Someday, the taint in her blood would call for her again, as it had during the Blight, and she would be forced to answer. Forced to leave on her Calling. Maybe there was a way to cure the taint, to make it so she and Alistair could live together for their full, natural lifetimes. Maybe have a child or two that could take the throne someday in the future. 

She gave an eclectic gathering of materials to the smith, Wade, who had forged the drakescale armor for her during the Blight, and he made several items for her. A suit of armor from the piece of the inferno golem's shell, a shield from the sylvan heartwood, and a dragonbone sword, called Vigilance. Kallak and Partha were displayed on the southern wall of the Vigil's Keep throne room, exchanged for the sword and shield forged specifically for Elyssa. She had the Circle's ambassador enchant Vigilance with several different runes, before finally turning her attention to the nobles who had gathered. She had put this off long enough. 

"Assemble the men," she told Varel when he announced again what the civilians were doing in the throne room. "We're going to war." 

"I will send messengers at once," he said with a nod. 

"Let me know when the soldiers have gathered," she said. "I'll be in my study."

"Understood, Commander."

_Alistair,_

_There are armies of darkspawn all across the arling. Captain Garavel compared it to the Blight. We have no choice. I have only six Wardens at my back, but if two of us were enough to stop the Blight, then we should do well with this many. We're going to war against the darkspawn once again, and soon this will be over. With luck, I'll be able to rejoin you in Denerim soon. The Vigil's walls have been repaired to dwarven standards, so they should hold against just about anything. I will get to the bottom of this mess, and then I will return to your side._

_Elyssa._

With the short letter sent off, she returned to the throne room to find even more people gathered around the central stone fire pit. 

"We've waited enough," one of the nobles protested. "Those that are late will just have to be filled in."

"Lord Eddelbrek, this is the Commander of the Grey's council, not yours," Varel said sternly. 

"I am fearful for the villagers on the plains," Eddelbrek admitted. "There's a darkspawn army-- **army** \--in the field. And with the soldiers returning to the Vigil…"

"We can't give in to despair," Elyssa said, her voice loud enough to carry through the room. She saw her recruits turn to look at her. 

"This is no--"

"Commander! Commander!" a young woman interrupted, bursting into the room and running up to them. She sounded panicked.

"What is it, girl?" Varel asked, obviously irritated by the interruption.

"A darkspawn army is within site of Amaranthine," the woman reported breathlessly. 

"Maker protect us, they're attacking the city?!" Eddelbrek exclaimed. Elyssa wordlessly glanced around the edge of her throne room, meeting the gazes of each of her Wardens for just a moment. They all began to weave through the crowds to approach her, sensing what was coming next. None of them had been Wardens for long, but neither had she when she stared her own death in the face, that day atop Fort Drakon.

"Amaranthine has been undermanned for weeks," Garavel reminded her. "She may not last long." 

"Our forces cannot move quickly enough, but a small band might make it in time," Varel admitted. Elyssa already knew who she was going to take.

"But that's… suicide," Eddelbrek protested. 

"We must try," Garavel insisted.

"I'll go," Elyssa said, taking a step forward. "But who will defend the Vigil?"

"Fighting a horde of darkspawn with almost certain death waiting?" Sigrun asked. "Don't even think of leaving me here, Captain."

"Who do you want to take with you, Commander?" Varel asked. 

"Velanna, this is a chance to avenge your people," she said to the elf, a serious look in both their eyes. 

"We will cut down all darkspawn before us," Velanna agreed. "And I will learn what they have done with my sister."

"Nathaniel, this is a chance to redeem your family," she said to her archer.

"Initially, I thought you were utterly mad to invite me to join your order," he admitted, a slight smirk on his lips. "But redemption? A man could die for that and feel good about it."

"And I won't deny Sigrun's request. She's with me."

"I'm already dead--I've nothing to lose," she joked. 

"And so it is decided," Varel said definitively. 

"I'll make sure the Vigil's ale supply is safe," Oghren said with a laugh. "Leave a few darkspawn skulls for me to kick in, right?" Elyssa chuckled and just shook her head.

"If ever I had doubts of you, they are erased," Justice told her. "Fight nobly, and, if you die, die with honor."

"What greater honor is there than fighting to protect one's people?" she countered. 

"Oh, I miss out on the suicide mission?" Anders asked sarcastically, sounding not for the first time like Alistair. "Life can be so unfair. But, uh… good luck. Chin up, and all that." She raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she responded, also sarcastically. 

"The rest of us will stay here," Varel informed her. "Maker protect you and hold you close, Commander."

"May he watch over us all," she said, an eerie feeling settling over her as she did so. Duncan's last words to her. Hopefully, they would not become her own. The nobles bowed to her as she, Velanna, Nathaniel, and Sigrun walked the length of the throne room, and out toward the city. Someone had already prepared horses for them, so they could reach Amaranthine quickly. But the darkspawn still reached the city before them. They had just cleared the darkspawn at the gate when someone approached. A man with a young woman trailing behind him, who could easily have been his daughter.

"Please, Grey Warden, save my family!" he begged. "My family's in the city!"

"Please calm yourselves while I speak to the Warden-Commander," the constable interrupted, directing them elsewhere. "Warden-Commander, I'm glad you arrived when you did, but I fear there is little that can be done now," he admitted to her. 

"What happened?" she demanded.

"A couple of nights ago, a swarm of… of gruesome **creatures** emerged from beneath the city," he told her. That sounded like the Children, the darkspawn grubs. "They spread pestilence and destroyed everything they touched. Then, at dawn, the other darkspawn attacked. Warden-Commander, it's too late. Amaranthine is lost."

"Snap out of it," she barked. "People still live within the city's walls."

"The buildings still remain, but there will be few survivors so long after those creatures appeared," he insisted. "Their corruption is so virulent. At least a quarter of the city succumbed within the first day." Elyssa's eyes widened. Such a high death toll shouldn't have been possible. And how had she not noticed it happening? 

"Constable, there is a darkspawn approaching, alone!" one of the guardsmen said suddenly from behind Elyssa, startling her. 

"Archers! Take it down!" the constable ordered.

"Peace! Do not be killing!" the darkspawn requested. "Only talk! Architect has a message, for Grey Warden!"

"Spit it out before I kill you, creature," Elyssa hissed. 

"The Mother's army, it marches to Vigil's Keep," the darkspawn told her after approaching. "She attacks now! The Architect, he sends me to warn you! You must save the Keep, then finish the Mother in her lair!"

"You expect me to trust you?" she asked, drawing her gleaming dragonbone blade. 

"It is truth! If you do not go now, then all is lost, the Mother wins! If I lie, then kill me."

"If we leave now, we may make it back to the Vigil in time to save it," Garavel said quickly. Elyssa's thoughts began to race. She'd left Oghren, Justice, and Anders behind to protect the Vigil, and the walls had been repaired to dwarven standards. She trusted her Wardens to do what needed to be done. 

"And what about the darkspawn here?" the constable demanded of the captain.

"Soon, they will go to Vigil's Keep as well," the darkspawn explained. "The Mother, she wants the keep destroyed utterly!"

Garavel let out a disgusted grunt. "The darkspawn has a point. We cannot leave with this other army hot on our heels. The constable says that the city is lost. I say we destroy it. Burn it, and all the darkspawn within."

"Captain, I am not giving up on Amaranthine," she said coldly. The Wardens already had a bad enough reputation in Ferelden, she didn't need to add to that by burning an entire city to the ground. 

"Warden-Commander, we have already lost Amaranthine," Garavel said again, trying to convince her. "We cannot lose the Vigil as well."

"I have faith in the fortress I have built," she said simply. 

"Commander, we can't save Amaranthine if it's already lost," Nathaniel insisted. "We can still save the Vigil."

"I stand with the Commander," Sigrun chimed in. "We must try to save Amaranthine. That's what Grey Wardens do. We protect people." She was glaring up at Nathaniel, and Elyssa swore she heard the dwarf's voice crack somewhere in those last three words.

"I don't want to see fire ravage these streets, but it may be our only chance," Nathaniel argued. 

"What if there's a chance we could save someone? Anyone?" Elyssa said, in an attempt to persuade him.

"It would take a miracle…" he confessed. He sighed and looked at the ground for a moment before raising his head again. "I will follow your lead, Commander."

"We cannot afford to lose the Vigil and the Grey Wardens, and what humans are left here are lost anyway," Velanna piped up. 

"Do you really want more innocent blood on your hands?" Elyssa asked, her tone taking a surprisingly gentle turn after the harshness she'd spoken with earlier. 

"I…" the elf began. "No. I understand. Let us pray that the keep can stand on its own."

"No, no! If you stay, the Mother will get what she wants!" the darkspawn protested.

"Tie this thing up," Elyssa ordered the guards that had gathered around them. "It has information we need."

"Amaranthine, then," Garavel said with a sigh after the darkspawn messenger was restrained. "The darkspawn are never this organized on their own. Something must be leading them. If we eliminate the darkspawn leadership, we can go about finding survivors." Elyssa winced as the buzzing in her head increased, forcing her eyes shut and bringing one hand to her head. 

"Commander, are you alright?" Sigrun asked quickly. 

"Three," Elyssa muttered. "I can sense three generals within the city… but there's too many darkspawn, I can't tell where they are." Not to mention the addition of the Children was mucking everything up in her head. "There's also… a few emissaries, at least one alpha, and… an ogre. But only one, I think."

"All I get is a weird whisper-buzzing," Sigrun said after a moment. 

"Some people are more sensitive," Elyssa responded. "And Alistair told me once that it's supposed to be worse for those who Join during a Blight." She shook her head and lowered her hand, drawing the heartwood shield from her back. "Less talking, more fighting." With that, they headed into the city. They quickly went around and saved a number of groups of guardsmen before checking in with the Guard-Captain, who she met up with at the base of the stairs leading to the Chantry.

"Warden-Commander, we've received word of another wave of darkspawn approaching the city," he informed her. "They will be here within a day."

"Then we must prepare," she told him. 

"Most of the survivors are taking refuge in the Chantry," he said. "The militia has set up a base of operations there. You can rest and resupply there. In the meantime, my men and I will search for more survivors." She nodded and led the way into the Chantry, where the four of them were shown into the Revered Mother's quarters in order to get what few hours of rest they could manage. They decided to keep watch in shifts, just in case more darkspawn appeared from the ground as the Constable said they had. Every two hours they switched, and Elyssa took the first watch. While the others slept, she collected supplies for Velanna to make more potions from. She sent a quick prayer to the Maker, asking that he watch over the others at the Vigil while they remained in the city, then went to wake Nathaniel for his watch. 

None of them got more than six hours of sleep, and she was the only one who got any uninterrupted. They were all tired and worn out, but a few of Velanna's potions helped take some of the fatigue from their muscles. The four of them emerged into the Chantry proper, only to be met by a panicked guardsman.

"W-Warden-Commander, come quickly!" he stuttered. "The darkspawn are still breaking through!" What did he mean _still_? Shouldn't it have been _again_?

"Breaking through where?" she asked. 

"The inn! They're coming from the inn, somehow!" That made absolutely no sense. Why were the darkspawn at the Crown and Lion? Then she remembered. The old smuggler's den had two entrances. One in a hovel outside the walls. And another… inside the Crown and Lion. 

"I'm heading to the inn, you stay here," she said quickly. The others followed her out the door and back into the city, though her headache was making it difficult for her to focus. There was at least one general somewhere nearby. After clearing away the Children, they began to clear the inn. That was where one of the generals was waiting. 

"How did they get here?" Nathaniel asked once the inn was clear of darkspawn.

"The smuggler's den below the city has an entrance in a hovel outside the walls," she explained. "But the other end? Is right here." She lifted the trapdoor to show him. "Odds are they found the tunnel and tried to use it to flood the city. Guess they don't know how doorknobs work." She had guessed right. When they got down there, the group was met by more darkspawn, as well as a second general. A surge of genlocks came through the other end, assisted by a single Shriek, but were easily dispatched. They made their way up and out of the tunnel, spotting the third and final general as they emerged. The general quickly ran, and an ogre wearing full armor charged them in its place. That fight was the hardest so far, first the armored ogre and then the general. 

When both the general and the ogre were dead, the surviving guardsmen began to emerge from their shelters, cheering. One simply sat on an overturned bucket, looking both exhausted and relieved. This, Elyssa told herself, was why she had refused to burn the city. Too many people had been hiding out within the walls, and they would have been lost with Amaranthine.

"Commander, the darkspawn are retreating," Garavel said as he approached. 

"And the survivors?" she asked.

"They are being tended to," he informed her. "By the Maker's mercy, only a few were infected by the darkspawn. The Architect's messenger has given us directions to the Mother's lair. We must pursue her." 

"I will see to her," she assured the captain.

"Commander, what should we do with the messenger?" he asked.

"Do as you wish," she said dismissively. She had bigger things to worry about, and likely the messenger would be killed anyway simply for being a darkspawn. 

"Maker watch over you, Commander," he said with a nod before walking off again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note for anyone who's going to transfer their postgame Awakening autosave into DA2, whoever you leave at the Keep will be flagged as dead for DA2, regardless of whether you fully upgraded the walls or whatever. This is really only important for Nathaniel, however, as his fate is the trigger point for a pair of mutually exclusive quests in DA2. One in Act 2 and one in Act 3. 
> 
> Herren will sell the item Manual of Focus if you wind up here(like I did) without enough points in Herbalism for the master lyrium potion required to make the golem armor, or the Grandmaster Lightning / Fire runes required for the Dragonbone sword and Heartwood shield/bow. That's... kinda part of the reason why I took so long to get this chapter out.. I forgot about using a Manual of Focus to reset everything.


	71. Depths of Depravity

She would just have to hope the Vigil managed to hold its own against the Mother's army. There wasn't time to go back and check on it. But Oghren had been beside her during the Blight, and she trusted his combat ability, if nothing else. He was a Warden now, and despite him still being a drunk, he would do what needed to be done.

It took several days to reach the Mother's lair, and the place was more than a little creepy. Dank, dark, and weirdly green, it seemed fitting for a villainous hideout. They traveled down the path, set upon by more of the Children and noticing what appeared to be the bones of dragons scattered about. Though considering that the place was called the Dragonbone Wastes, it made sense that there would be dragon bones around. 

They entered a clearing, spying darkspawn fighting Children, and were forced to the ground when a High Dragon landed hard before them. And, of course, this one spat electricity. But it, too, fell to their blades. And they made their way through the doors, into the ruins of what they'd been told was Drake's Fall. 

"I'm glad to see you live, sister," said a familiar voice. 

"Seranni!" Velanna cried out. "Oh, thank Mythal you're still alive!" Elyssa watched silently as her elven mage ran toward her sister. "What has the Architect done to you? Why are you with him?"

"The Architect is kind to me, and tender, and he has told me his plan," Seranni said, in a voice that reminded Elyssa way too much of the Tranquil mages in the Circle Tower. "The darkspawn are just like us. The Architect has freed them, and they are searching for a place in this world, just like the Dalish are searching. Everything he's done, he's done to help his people. You can respect that, can't you, sister?"

"Velanna, tell me you don't buy this," Elyssa requested, almost worried that she was going to have to fight the elf. 

"Seranni, they killed our friends, and so many others," Velanna said, sounding on the verge of tears. "Don't you remember?"

"I do," the other elf admitted. "And this is why I must help them. They are like children--come into the world with no understanding of what is good and fair. They have a bestial nature, but I've seen them overcome it. They just need to be shown how."

Elyssa shook her head. "I can't believe I wanted to help you," she muttered. 

"The Architect is waiting for me, and for you," she continued, as if she hadn't heard what Elyssa said. "He will explain everything. You will see, as I have seen." As she walked off, Elyssa realized that Seranni wasn't speaking like the Tranquil mages, but like the dwarf Hespith she'd met in the Deep Roads while searching for Branka.

"No-wait! Don't go!" Velanna protested as Seranni walked away. 

"Fourth day we wait and fear for our fate…" Elyssa found herself muttering. She shook her head and started walking again. Every once in a while, she had a nightmare about the broodmothers, and she could usually hear Hespith's monotonous voice through it all.

"What did you say?" Sigrun asked.

"Nothing, let's keep moving." She led them through the first hall, which led to a set of stairs going around the tower wall. On the floor were four sockets, into which she fitted the strange crystals she'd picked up. Next to the base of the stairs was the doorway to the next tower, which had four more sockets at the base. Before she could approach the sockets, she winced and turned, as did the other three. They all sensed what was coming.

"And so we meet again," the Architect said from the top of the staircase. The dwarf beside him drew her sword and shield, silent as she had been in the Silverite mines. But it made Elyssa wonder. She had encountered silent dwarves in Orzammar. Called the Silent Sisters, following the path of Paragon Astith the Grey. Maybe this dwarf had been one of them. "No, Utha," the Architect scolded her lightly. "That is not how this must begin. I owe you an apology, Commander. When last we met, I intended to explain myself. Fate, however, intervened." He used some sort of magic to float down to their level.

"You experimented on me!" she snapped. 

"I restrained you only to prevent the misunderstanding that occurred with the rest of your order," he corrected, landing on the stone before her. 

"A misunderstanding?" Velanna echoed. "Did you not attack the Grey Wardens?" 

"I sent the Withered to ask for the Grey Wardens' help," the Architect admitted. "I should have anticipated that you might view our approach as an attack. I am rarely able to judge how your kind will react. It was most unfortunate."

"Unfortunate? You took those men and bled them dry!" Elyssa barked, reaching for her sword.

"The Grey Wardens that were brought to me were already dead," he told her. "I took their blood, just as I took yours, because I had little choice. Things have not gone as I planned. I only ask that you hear me out. Should you still wish to slay me afterwards, you may try."

"There is nothing for us to discuss," she said coldly, drawing Vigilance. 

"How very unfortunate," the Architect said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "But I cannot blame you. You are as bound to your nature as we are to ours." He looked up at the dwarf that was still at the top of the stairs. "I am sorry, Utha. It appears I will not be able to keep my promise after all." The dwarf had sheathed her blade and began running down the stairs, while the Architect faced Elyssa again. "You will have to forgive me, Commander, for fighting to preserve my destiny." 

"Not like I was expecting you to just let me run you through," she muttered, ducking behind her shield as he fired his first spell. It was a hard fight, but soon enough both the Architect and his dwarf were dead. Four more crystals were placed into their sockets, and another bubble of electricity sparked in the center, roughly level with Elyssa's head. 

"It's too bad Alistair couldn’t be here for this," she said after a moment. "It's almost like old times."

"Wasn't it only six months ago?" Nathaniel asked.

"Closer to nine now, I think," she corrected. "What with how long it took to get everything figured out. Especially this last week." She led them across another bridge, which led to a third tower with sockets in the floor. But, of course, while they were crossing the bridge they were met by another armored ogre. Once again, crystals were fitted into sockets and the electricity-bubble appeared in the center. With all three towers activated, Elyssa led her party through a hole in the wall at the base of the stairs. That was where she'd find the Mother. That was where this would end. 

When they got to the other end of the tunnel, they spotted the creature. Another broodmother. What disgusting creatures… Elyssa fought against the choking stench that filled the cavern.

"If it isn't the hero of the hour!" the broodmother snarked as Elyssa approached. "The slayer of the mighty Father, come to claim a reward! Oh, what a delicious day!" 

"What. Is. That." Nathanial sounded appalled. 

"By the ancestors! Do all broodmothers smell this bad?" Sigrun asked with a cough. 

"Creators preserve us! I have never seen such foulness!" Velanna sounded more than a little disgusted. Elyssa, however, was able to at least pretend to ignore it. This wasn't the first broodmother she'd faced, after all. 

"Am I not beautiful?" the broodmother asked, laughing creepily. "Has the Grey Warden come now to slay the Mother, too? Will she join the Father in oblivion?"

"Who is this Father?" Elyssa asked. She hoped it was just the archdemon.

"He called himself _Architect_ , but that did not change what he was!" Well. Good thing he was already dead. "He said he wanted to free us, but all he brought us was silence. Oh, dreadful silence! But now the Father is gone. The Mother can take her children deep into the earth and care for them, safe and sound."

"Until the next time you send them to attack us again," Elyssa challenged.

"Oh, the Mother knows your ways," the broodmother said indignantly. "You will not let her be, no… not after what she's done." Why did all these talking darkspawn insist on referring to themselves in the third person? It just made them even weirder. "So it must end, it all must come crashing down!" Two of her tentacles flailed in the air as she shrieked. "Perhaps we will hear the song again when we die," she reasoned in a quieter voice. "Oh, let it come! Let it come!"

"I wonder what song she means?" Sigrun muttered.

"It's the call of the archdemons, I think," Elyssa said as she drew Vigilance again. Before she could say any more, there were tentacles bursting out of the fleshy stuff under their feet, and the fight was on.

They only succeeded, Elyssa believed, because she'd had Anders teach Velanna healing spells. Likely, they wouldn't have survived it otherwise. What Elyssa recalled at the end was stabbing it once in the chest and once through the head before it died for good. With the Mother dead, she wordlessly turned around and led her party out of the Dragonbone Wastes and back to Vigil's Keep. 

It took several more days for them to reach the Vigil, to the point that by the time they finally returned they had been gone from the keep for easily two weeks. When she saw the walls were still standing, Elyssa allowed a hint of hope to trickle into her heart. Perhaps her soldiers had held out after all. 

"Welcome back, Commander," Captain Garavel said when he spotted her. The battle appeared to be over, and what survivors were able were tending to the wounded. Elyssa glanced at Velanna, who met her gaze, and nodded. The elf began to go about casting healing spells and assisting Anders.

"How bad was it?" she asked. 

"The walls held for a week before the darkspawn even got in," he said, sounding amazed. "That dwarf did well. He's already working on patching up the more damaged spots until he can get supplies to do full repairs." 

"A whole week? That is impressive," she agreed. 

"The army broke, scattered, and retreated all of a sudden several days ago," he continued.

"And my recruits?" 

"Anders, as you saw, is tending the wounded," he reported. "Oghren took on two ogres at once before passing out from blood loss, but he still breathes. We found Kristoff's body decapitated."

"At least Aura has her husband's body now," Elyssa reasoned with a sigh. Anders and Oghren had both survived, as had a number of others. She could see the city guards in their steel armor side by side her own soldiers in their gleaming silverite. "How many were lost?"

"We're… still not sure," he admitted. "A hundred? Several hundred? More? The revered mother is here somewhere, she could give you a more accurate answer. I think. What I do know is that Senechal Varel's body was among them."

"Varel is dead?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "Unfortunately, I was not there when he was killed." He allowed a moment of silence before continuing. "We've had men chasing after the darkspawn that escaped into the cellars and ran into that triple door you and the dwarf found down there."

"Good. Don't need them surprising us again later," she muttered.

"Several of the soldiers were tainted during the battle," Garavel admitted. "They have expressed a desire to join the ranks of the Wardens, if you're willing." 

"They've been tainted for days, there won't be much time before they begin turning," she muttered. "Alright, bring them to me. We'll need to be quick about it if they are to live." Anyone who had survived the battle and wanted to join the Wardens, she wouldn't turn them away. Wardens didn't recruit out of pity, but none of these men needed it. They had proven themselves against the darkspawn already.

Five men and one woman had survived the taint long enough to chance the Joining. Two of the men and the woman survived the Joining itself, and became the newest recruits to the Grey Wardens. The next day, a letter arrived for her from Weisshaupt.

"Warden-Constable?" she asked, looking to Mistress Woolsey for clarification.

"Your second in command," the stern woman explained. "The Warden-Constable of Ferelden will handle matters here while you are in Denerim."

"And I know just who to choose, too," Elyssa muttered with a small smile. She waited until everyone had gathered in the dining room to present it.

"You want _me_ to be your second in command?" Nathaniel asked when she explained, clearly not believing her. "After everything?" Yes, she had fought beside Oghren more often, but his drunken habits had deterred her from choosing the dwarf. Velanna still harbored too much hatred toward humans. Anders was too much of a goof, and Sigrun was far too interested in her own death.

"You are not your father," she said. "You've had my back ever since your Joining. I trust you to carry the Wardens of Ferelden when I can't be here to do it myself."

"Then, Commander, I gladly accept," he said after a moment. Elyssa pinned the Warden-Constable's badge to his tunic, and a round of applause went up from the dining hall. 

"Your task begins sooner than I would like," she announced once the applause had died down. "Reconstruction and recovery efforts are well under way, and the darkspawn are no longer a true threat. I will be leaving for Denerim in the morning." Her court, and her husband, still needed her, after all. What she hadn't said, though, was that her Constable would have to handle matters in the arling while she was gone as well.


	72. Awakening Epilogue

After the deaths of both the Architect and the Mother, nearly all the remaining darkspawn fled back into the Deep Roads. The raids on Amaranthine came to an abrupt end. Although some of the Architect's disciples likely escaped into the Deep Roads with the rest of their brethren, they have--so far--shown no inclination towards vengeance against the Grey Wardens who killed their savior. Yet the Deep Roads remain plagued by the darkspawn, and it seems certain that in time, another Blight will begin. The danger may have passed for now, but the cycle of the Old Gods continues. 

Word of the Grey Wardens' heroic salvation of Amaranthine spread like wildfire. When the magnitude of the losses at Vigil's Keep came to light, sympathy drove generous donations from all over Ferelden into the region's coffers. Amaranthine was restored to her former glory within a year, and Vigil's Keep in five. Because of the Wardens' support for law and order in Amaranthine, Constable Aidan and his men were able to distribute the smugglers' goods to the battered survivors in the grueling days that followed the darkspawn defeat. Although the war devastated many farms in the arling, all agreed the loss would have been greater without soldiers for protection. The farmholders developed a certain reverence for the Warden-Commander--as well as an ongoing reliance on the Grey Wardens for order and protection.

Vigil's Keep stood alone against a horde of darkspawn. The Mother's forces outnumbered the Vigil's defenders many times over. But the sturdy dwarven walls proved impervious to any boulder an ogre could throw. The Vigil's soldiers, clad in silverite, each felled a dozen darkspawn before they died. The Vigil held one night, then two, then a week, and eventually the attacking horde broke upon her walls. The keep developed an almost mythic reputation, the few survivors immortalized in song and legend. Peace allowed the Wardens to replenish their numbers. Soon, Vigil's Keep bore a capable army with Wardens at its core. From their ranks emerged new heroes to challenge threats to Amaranthine and all of Ferelden. Through taxes and levis, the Vigil was rebuilt. Years later, Voldrik Glavanok stood on the battlements and pronounced that the defenses were acceptable. He would never speak more highly of any human engineering. 

Dark whispers of conspiracy against the Wardens fell silent after a rash of accidents and disappearances culminated in the apparent suicide of Bann Esmerelle. The nobles of Amaranthine remained dutiful. Some even suggest they were cowed into submission. Among the many legends that the Vigil spawned was one of the greatest heroes of the next age, a sheepherder-turned-soldier by the name of Ser Alec the Valiant, who eventually founded an order of knights that lasted a thousand years. The Commander's blade, Vigilance, crafted from the bones of an ancient dragon, was boldly stolen by the Antivan Crows. The blade changed hands many times thereafter, with some master swordsmen pursuing the weapon their entire lives. Some claim that this legendary blade has a life of its own, and that its power is steadily growing. Dworkin Glavonak further refined his lyrium-sand explosives, but left the Wardens' employ after qunari mercenaries tried to assassinate him. Although the dwarven bombardier took his secrets with him, the learned say he left clues for others to follow in his footsteps. The Vigil's soldiers, wearing the distinctive silverite armor that Master Wade crafted, came to be known as the Silver Order. Under the tutelage of the Wardens, the Silver Order developed into one of Ferelden's most revered military forces, a lasting memory of the Vigil's famous commander. 

A few years after Kal'Hirol was emptied of darkspawn, Orzammar began sending expeditions to rediscover the knowledge of smithing that had been lost within the thaig. Eventually, house Helmi decided that Kal'Hirol was too important to be abandoned. At a tremendous cost of dwarven lives, they cleared the tunnels leading to Kal'Hirol of all darkspawn, making the road between Orzammar and the fortress safe again. Kal'Hirol was reclaimed for Orzammar, once and for all. As promised, Voldrik and Dworkin presented Orzammar's Shaperate with the stone marker that told of how Kal'Hirol's casteless had taken up arms against the darkspawn. The Commander of the Grey was invited to Orzammar as a guest of honor at a feast commemorating the defenders of Kal'Hirol. The Shaper read the names of the Casteless off the marker, then presided over a ceremony to return them to the Stone, as befitted warriors of their stature. 

In time, the arling began to forget the tales of apparitions in the Blackmarsh, and ever so slowly, settlers drifted into the region. Scholars said the Veil was still thin and thus the area still dangerous, but the people only cared that there were no longer frightened whispers in the shadows. The village was slowly rebuilt. Twice the baroness's mansion was rebuilt and occupied, once by a wealthy merchant and another time by an Orlesian mage. Both died mysteriously. Afterwards, the mansion was torn down completely and the site left untouched. 

The survivors of the siege at Vigil's Keep hailed Anders and his magic for holding back hundreds of the assaulting darkspawn. In the ensuing victory celebration, the men dragged the mage to the fire to engage him in a drinking contest. Anders lost. He remained with the Grey Wardens to train the Order's next generation of mages. When he was called by the Circle of Magi to deliver a lecture on the nature of the Architect--much to the Templars' dismay--he told the Commander that his time with the Wardens was over. And yet, not two months later, Anders returned to the order. Ever after, the Wardens were his home and his lasting companions.

Velanna never saw her clan again, but neither did she forsake her Dalish culture--nor her sharp tongue, nor her quick temper. After several years in the Grey Wardens, Velanna disappeared one day. Most surmise that she left for the Deep Roads to resume the search for her sister, but no one knows for sure.

Over the next years, Nathaniel dedicated himself to the order and to clearing the blemishes on his family's name. After saving Teyrn Fergus Cousland from a bandit attack, a portion of Amaranthine was returned to the Howes. Nathaniel passed the holding to Delilah's son, and when a new castle was eventually built there, a statue of Nathaniel was erected in its courtyard.

Justice fought valiantly at the battle for Vigil's Keep, but before the victory horn sounded, a darkspawn sword removed Kristoff's head. It was, of course, unclear whether the spirit of justice perished or simply departed. At the least, Kristoff's wife, Aura, was finally able to reclaim her husband's ashes. 

Although Sigrun seemed intent on leaving for her Calling, departing for the Deep Roads to finish what she started in Kal'Hirol, the Warden-Commander had a knack for finding important and absolutely urgent things to occupy the dwarf. And so Sigrun delayed her long walk into the darkness for several decades, even though she never stopped cracking jokes about needing to throw herself at death.

At Vigil's Keep, Oghren rallied a last-minute defense of the gate, taking on two ogres simultaneously to allow others time to regain the courtyard. He eventually passed out from blood loss, and when he awoke weeks later, nobody was more surprised than he to discover he had been credited as a hero. Oghren continued to regale young Warden recruits with tales of his prowess both in battle and in bed. His drinking games prompted at least one recruit to declare that she'd rather reattempt the Joining than lift another mug. Felsi returned to Vigil's Keep several times to visit Oghren, usually bringing her toddler as well. Oghren's inability to act seriously wore on her, however, and her visits dwindled, then stopped altogether. If Oghren missed her, or his child, he never showed it.

As for the savior of Ferelden, she did not remain as Commander of the Grey for long. The darkspawn were no longer a real concern, the Blight well and truly over. It was time for her to move on. She returned to life at court, resuming her duties as Queen of Ferelden and receiving a hero's welcome when she rode back into the capital. King Alistair awaited her at the palace gates, grinning from ear to ear. Some years later, the savior of Ferelden vanished entirely. Nobody knows for what purpose she departed, yet neither does anyone think her tale is complete…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next is going to be the Golems of Amgarrak, but gdi I forgot how long this one is. -.- It'll take me a while to get it done.


	73. Amgarrak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this is why you never mix Tevinter magic with dwarven creations. Especially things that the Paragons have made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it wasn't as long as I remembered it being. There's just a lot of backtracking and circular crap involved. If you're looking for the research notes, at least.

Only a few months after her return to Denerim, her assistance was requested again. This time, by a dwarf from House Dace, who was going into the Deep Roads to find his brother, who had been lost in an expedition to someplace called Amgarrak during the Blight. The expedition had been funded by a house of surface dwarves, House Tethras. She was forced to say good-bye to her love once again as she left Denerim for Orzammar, and then left Orzammar for the Deep Roads. By now, Captain Garavel had taken Varel's place as Seneschal of Vigil's Keep, and though she wasn't as involved in the arling, he kept her updated on the goings-on within.

"Thank you again for helping me, Warden," Jerrik Dace said to her once they were a good ways into the tunnels. "Everyone else has given up, but I couldn't abandon Brogan. He's my brother. I apologize for insisting you come alone. House Dace doesn't want the location of Amgarrak to be known to the rest of Orzammar." She would never understand dwarven politics. 

"Are you expecting trouble?" she asked, in an effort to focus on something other than the headache she was starting to develop. Maker, the Deep Roads always did this to her.

"An expedition of over twenty men doesn't just disappear," he insisted. "There's something in there, and I'm guessing it's not friendly. Just be prepared for anything."

"You're being secretive," she observed, one eyebrow raised. 

"House Dace sacrificed many men to discover this place," he told her. "Any knowledge found here should be ours, to do with as we please. Of course Brogan is my primary concern, but Amgarrak hides secrets… great ones."

"So why ask for my help?"

"King Bhelen told me you were the one to look for," he said. "He said if anyone could save Brogan, you could." 

_Is this because I managed to find not one, but two Paragons last time I was down here?_ she wondered silently. 

"Let's just move on," she said finally.

"Amgarrak is not too far ahead," he told her. 

They found a few slain dwarves in a bend in the tunnel, only to be set on by a small band of Hurlocks. Further in, the tunnel widened into a cave filled with some strange dark aura. It vaguely reminded her of the Fade tears she'd seen in the Blackmarsh, but these were a shadowy purple-black instead of the weird Fade-green. They defeated a trio of Shrieks and the mist parted, revealing a path to the right. With no other way to go, Elyssa figured they might as well follow it. At the end of the path was a golem that looked like Caridin had.

"This is one of Caridin's golems, but… modified," Jerrik said helpfully. "They must have experimented on existing golems in Amgarrak. Maybe they also learned the secret to building new ones." Elyssa knew what the secret had been. The Anvil of the Void. Living dwarves. 

"Recreating Caridin's work is a bad idea," she told him.

"Spare me the moral judgments, Warden," he said, sounding slightly annoyed. "I wonder if this golem is still functional. There might be a control rod somewhere." With the path at a dead end, they turned back into the cave with the weird mist. Following the clear path, along the left wall, led them to a little alcove. Before they could go in, they were caught by another trio of Shrieks. With the Shrieks defeated, they found on the table in the alcove the golem's control rod. They went back through the paths and activated the golem, adding a member to the party and once more heading into the mist. Another path had opened up, a large tunnel on the same wall as the golem's path had been. A flash of blue light, and several Shrieks appeared. Only to fade away a moment later. This bothered both of them more than a little. Another pulse of blue light was followed by a figure running down the tunnel.

"I'm starting to see strange things. I'm not comfortable here, Warden," Jerrik told her. This wasn't the first time Elyssa had seen things that weren't really there, though. Soldier's Peak came to mind, as did Kal'Hirol. They emerged into what Elyssa guessed was the thaig, and a bunch of deepstalkers skittered past them. That alone was weird enough. What had them so scared they simply ran past? They found a Revenant with a shambler and an Arcane Horror, and then the blue light flashed again. A dwarf glowing with a strange blue light ran past them, so Elyssa followed it.

"That's one of the men I sent on the expedition," Jerrik realized. "What's going on here?" As they approached a set of double doors, he confirmed that they had reached the door to Amgarrak. So in they went. But, of course, it could never be smooth. A green barrier sprung up behind them, blocking their way out. Jerrik said something about finding another exit, which Elyssa thought was obvious, and they began their descent. 

In the first room, they spotted something that Elyssa had never seen before. It had a long, thin neck and tail, with a round body and four stubby legs. And it scurried off at the sight of them. A table along one wall held a journal that mentioned Branka had been interested in Amgarrak, but had decided not to pursue it.

"Great, Branka's involved," Elyssa muttered with a shake of her head. She looked around the room. There were four paths out. One was the way they'd come from, which was blocked. Two of the others were also blocked, one by a blue barrier and one by a purple. So they took the one path that was free, only to be surprised by a pair each of stone and steel golems. In one alcove were three chests that glowed with a faint blue light. But could not be touched. They ended up going down the tunnel off the side, only to find yet another glowing blue dwarf. This one, Jerrik identified as his missing brother.

"This light… I can't even touch him," he muttered. "Brogan! Brother, can you hear me?"

"Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. Listen… the shadows, they whisper…" 

_Shit. This is Ruck all over again,_ Elyssa realized. This dwarf was speaking like the partial-ghoul, Ruck. This was not good.

"What is this? Some sort of… surfacer curse?" Jerrik asked, though Elyssa guessed he didn't really expect an answer. "He's here… I can see him… he's still alive…"

"Something's happened to him," Elyssa observed. "We'll find out what." Hopefully it was just some sort of strange Tevinter magic. The journal had mentioned a Tevinter mage, after all, and magic was easier to fix than the corruption she feared. She would not wish blight corruption on anyone. But, maybe because of the magic, she couldn't sense it in him. She would have to wait and see if anything changed when they figured out how to reach him.

"I hope you're right, Warden," he said to her. "I'm not leaving this place without him." He followed her through another door, on the other side of which a flash of red light left them surrounded by a number of dwarves glowing red this time. They went from one room to another, only to find at the end of one path a disturbingly familiar sight. To Elyssa, at least.

"What is that?! It's huge!" Jerrik said, alarmed.

"It's some sort of lyrium ball," Elyssa told him calmly. "I found one of these in Kal'Hirol, except that one was held by chains."

"What happened?"

"I cut the chains and dropped it on a group of broodmothers," she said simply, as if it was no big deal. "This old sign calls it a lyrium well." She spied a strange switch and pressed it, only to have everything overwhelmed by a sudden, sharp pain in her head. When she opened her eyes, everything was tinted blue. When they came into a new room, something that looked like an arcane horror crawled from the ground and summoned several undead. After going back and hitting the switch again to return the world to normal, she went back into the room to find four stone golems inside. A third press of the switch to make everything blue again, and they made their way back to where they'd seen Brogan. Maybe there was some magic in these switches, and she could reach Brogan through them.

In the end, Brogan told them about someone named Darion, whose journals Elyssa had spotted down here. Jerrik convinced his brother to come along, and they were off again. She went back into the first room, wondering if the world being blue would let her through the blue barrier, since it had let Brogan see them. And it did. Inside was another switch, this one turning the world purple. This let them through the purple barrier at the top of the stairs, beyond which was another lyrium well. After turning the world back to normal with one of the other switches off the room with the lyrium well, they went down a side path that was blocked while the world was purple. There, after defeating two metal golems, they found Darion's body. Going back to the room with the switches, they found another of Darion's journals. It called the previously mentioned flesh monster a Harvester, and said that they needed to destroy everything within the place to erase the mistake that had created it. The last line mentioned the forge, which Elyssa supposed was where they were going next. Maybe by following these journals, they could get out of here.

Turning around, Elyssa took a closer look around the room. There were four switches, each in facing pairs on the side of the middle pillars facing the middle of the room. Under each switch was an inactive metal golem. She guessed that the forge was beyond the doorway blocked by the red barrier in the room with the second lyrium well, but she was hesitant to push the switches on the walls. After a moment, she decided to push the blue switch and see what happened. It let out a burst of energy, but nothing else happened. The switch on the floor, however, changed from white to red. A combination of the four, and the switch on the floor activated. Apparently, she had pressed the wrong combination, as the golems in the room sprang to life and attacked. Then she remembered the strange note they'd found on Darion's body, and realized what the letters had meant. 

Spending so long at court had dulled her puzzle-solving abilities, it seemed.

After pressing the switches in the right order, the world took on a red haze, and she hoped that meant they would be able to pass through the red barrier. Whatever was in the forge, she would have to be careful. This time, she didn't have a mage companion with healing spells. Anders had up and vanished, which meant Velanna was needed at Vigil's Keep more than ever, as the senior mage of the Ferelden Wardens. And after backtracking a bit and finding a room with five chests, after clearing out the golems and hitting the switch that turned the world green, she began wishing she had Zevran, Leliana, or Nathaniel with her again. Though Jerrik was able to pick the locks on the two locked chests. They decided to camp near the brazier in one of the first rooms they came across, inside what appeared to have once been some sort of storage room. With the golem following them, they didn't feel the need to keep watch. But Elyssa had noticed the magic affecting her ability to sense the darkspawn, so she ended up waking up every few hours anyway. 

The next morning, they decided to see what was inside the forge. After returning to press the red switch, it was through the unexplored doorway they went. 

"No. Not there, not there," Brogan muttered as they descended.

"I thought you trusted Darion," Jerrik said gently. "He said to go to the forge. That's where everything is, including my research."

"No, Jerrik, can't you hear it?" Brogan asked. "Chitter, skitter… in there, waiting… It'll wear your face, Jerrik. Take it off in rips and strips…"

"The last journal called it the Harvester," Elyssa said after a moment, pausing on the stairs. "What if it's still down here?" 

"I hope not," Jerrik muttered. But now Elyssa was hearing the skittering too, as they crossed the stone bridge over the lava flow. Just beyond, they found it. At first, it just looked like a lump of flesh. Then, something else went skittering past. It had a face, but it was only a few feet long, with a pair of tiny arms, and a single pair of feet, and a tail of some sort. It went to the lump of flesh, and then she realized what it was. A flesh golem. Almost as wretched as the broodmothers. A construct of rotting flesh and flailing limbs, it smelled just as bad as the broodmother, too. Without the added risk to her dwarven companions, at least. Hopefully, killing this would end the magic, and allow them through the green barrier that had trapped them here in the first place. Partway through the battle, the Harvester used some sort of magic to bring other corpses to life. Perhaps it wasn't a true golem in the way that Caridin's had been. Perhaps this one had been created and a spirit bound to it, rather than being made with a living host. That would explain both the magic, and the blind rage. And then she figured it out. The corpses came to life when the world went red. Hitting the switches to return everything to normal got rid of them before they could become a problem.

When the body was destroyed, the creature's head abandoned the body, making them give chase. Running around after it was arguably more tiring than the actual fight itself, given that in this form it couldn't do much more than summon more corpses. But just as Elyssa finally struck the last blow, the place began to cave in.

"No! It can't come down! Not now!" Jerrik protested.

"Time to go, Jerrik," Brogan said, sounding much more like his brother than he did like the ghoul, Ruck. "The forge is destroyed, like Darion wanted."

"The creature is dead," Jerrik continued. "There could be other notes, more information to-"

"No, Jerrik, not worth more death." 

"I'm with him on this," Elyssa said quickly. "Now let's get out of here before we get buried!" The dwarves nodded, and the three of them-and Jerrik's bronto-made for the surface. Somehow, defeating the creature and destroying the forge had broken the magic of the place, causing the green barrier at the door to fall and allowing them to escape Amgarrak.

"That's it, then. It's over."

"No, brother," Brogan insisted. "We're still alive. Let's go home." They made their way back up the path they had traveled the first time, not knowing what still lurked beneath the rubble. 

"This is where we part ways," Elyssa said when they finally reached the surface, several days later. 

"Travel safe, Warden," Jerrik said to her. "Denerim must be missing you."

Thankfully, King Bhelen had kept her horse well tended during her foray into the Deep Roads. On horseback, it took her just over a week to get back to the capitol. Back to her love and her husband. Once again, he was waiting for her with open arms, and there was quite the spectacle as she rode into the city. The night of her return was spent in the solitude of their private quarters.


End file.
